


Daughter

by emwebb17



Series: Original Children [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternative Universe - FBI, Vampires, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-21 16:59:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 114,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/902690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emwebb17/pseuds/emwebb17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slight parody of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake verse--and every other first person POV vampire story ever published.</p><p>An FBI forensic pathologist is recruited by a vampire to solve the murder of one of their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Left Handedness

It’s because I’m left handed.

I can’t hold scissors correctly.  I can’t write with a pen without smearing ink all over the page.  I can’t operate a computer mouse properly.  I can’t shoot a hostile suspect without wounding one of my comrades.  You know, the usual stuff that makes you look incompetent even though it’s only because you’re left handed.

 

I sat on the edge of the hard, plastic chair.  I was hunched over myself: elbows on my thighs, face in my hands.  I looked defeated.  However, that adjective didn’t really apply to my situation.  Regardless, I sat in the chair looking defeated.  I was waiting to see if my partner was going to make it through surgery.  And if he did, he was probably going to kill me.

“Special Agent Milligan?”

I looked up at the “special” even though I’m not actually a special agent.  People always mistake me for one when I flash my credentials despite the fact that it looks nothing like a special agent badge.  I’m what is categorized as “Professional Support Personnel.”  But who really gives a damn about semantics when you’ve possibly just permanently disfigured a good friend?

The doctor looked at me with that blank doctor expression they give right before they either tell you your loved is going to be okay or that something awful has happened, like, they just spontaneously combusted or something.

“Will you come with me, miss?  Uh, ma’am.”

I stood up carefully on my twisted ankle and limped painfully after the doctor.  He hadn’t sat beside me and looked gravely in my eyes, so the knot in my stomach got a fraction looser and I was able to be amused about the thirty-something doctor mistaking me for someone who wasn’t old enough to be a ma’am.

The hospital was done in shades of soft blues and greens.  My father would have called them crazy colors.  Not because they were wild and exciting, but because they were the type of colors you put around crazy people to soothe them.  It was a much more homey hospital than most with pictures on the walls and plants on the desks.  But then again, this was a small town with a small hospital with an ER that saw about as much excitement as the third geekiest person you went to high school with.  You know, the top nerd and his dork in command were always teased and razzed, but somewhere down on the bottom of the social food chain were the people who were just ignored.  The people who end up bringing semi-automatic weapons into school just to create a little excitement.

“Have you had your ankle checked?”

My eyes snapped up to the doctor and I ran full into him.  He had stopped at the doors to the emergency bay.  We had walked less than ten feet.  I had forgotten how small the hospital was and thus did not have as much time to get lost on one of my tangents as usual.

I took a step back, embarrassed, though not entirely upset.  He was one of those doctors your mother’s always trying to get you to marry: tall, blonde, big brown puppy-dog eyes, Beamer in the parking lot, Jaguar in the garage.  And the reason I wasn’t that upset was because I had run into a very solid and well-defined hunk of man-chest.  The bulky white coat had managed to hide the good doctor’s greatest charms.

I jerked my hands back suddenly because I realized I’d left them on the doctor’s pects for longer than decency dictated.  I finally managed to process that he had asked me a question.

“Huh?” I grunted.

Articulate and poised.  Two of my finer qualities.

“Has anyone checked your ankle?”

He smiled while he repeated his question.  Half doctoral concern, half flirtatious teasing.

“It’s only twisted.”

I raised my hand before he could inform me that only doctors are capable of diagnosing twisted ankles.

“I’m an MD.  I know I’m fine.  I’d like to see my partner.”

Dr. Love—I shit you not that’s his real last name—raised his eyebrows.  Then he shrugged and punched in the code that unlocked the heavy double doors to the emergency bay.  He pushed one door open and held it for me on the other side.  I walked in, trying not to limp, and followed Dr. Love to a curtained off bed.

Around me the ER was eerily quiet.  A man was getting sutures in his hand and four nurses and two doctors sat around the nurses’ station watching a soap opera.  Well, it was a Monday afternoon.  Maybe all ER’s are quiet on Monday afternoons.  I laughed to myself.  I knew that wasn’t true.

The doctor and I stopped at the curtain.  He looked to me with his hand resting on the edge.  I gave a curt nod and he pulled the curtain back.

Now, you may be wondering how I managed to peacefully take in my surroundings and size up Dr. Love with my partner lying in an emergency room gurney.  How I managed to go off on my little thinking tangents with my partner’s life dangling in the balance.  Well, I have this sort of flare for the dramatic.  It’s a flaw.  I’m working on it.

My partner was propped on the gurney by several pillows with his foot propped up on some more pillows.  His dark Italian skin seemed darker than normal against the sea foam green polka dotted white hospital gown he wore.  His black hair was ruffled like a little boy’s who had just woken up.  His arms were crossed over his chest very tightly and his eyebrows and lips were drawn up in such a way that it almost made him seem unhandsome.  And he glared at me the way you glare at someone you want to hate but can’t because you like them too much.

I guess I deserved his anger.  I did shoot off his little toe after all.

“We managed to reattach the toe,” Dr. Love was saying, “and he’ll probably regain—” the doctor searched for an appropriate word—“movement of the appendage in a couple weeks.  It’s going to hurt like hell to walk on for a few days.”

“Thank you, Dr. Love,” I said turning to him and shaking his hand.  I had headed off the uncomfortable silence because I knew my partner was only going to glare at me and not respond.

Dr. Love let his fingers trail across my palm as we released hands and gave me a great “I’m handsome _and_ rich” smile.  “Nice to meet you, Dr. Milligan.  When you’re ready, I’ll take a look at your ankle.”

I smiled back and reached for the curtain, and then snapped it forward, cutting out the good doctor.  I saw his white tennis shoes turn and walk away.  I looked back at my partner.  Special Agent Michael Farlini was _not_ happy with me.

I stepped toward him and made a show of limping on my poor twisted ankle.  His features softened just a little and his arms relaxed.  Michael sighed and moved his left leg to rest on top of the pile of pillows and settled his injured right foot gingerly on top of the left.  I moved to sit on the gurney in the space his leg had occupied.

The gurney protested the additional weight with a few creaks, but I settled in with my elbows propped behind me and my legs stretched out toward Michael.  He frowned as he carefully picked up my left leg and removed the black pump from my foot.  His long fingers trailed lightly over my tan hose and up and down my swelling ankle.  Even those light touches were hurting a little.  My ankle might be sprained instead of twisted.  And yes, there is a difference.

I was a little nervous that he hadn’t spoken yet, but if he wasn’t yelling by now, he probably wouldn’t start.  I watched, holding my breath, as his hands gently maneuvered around my ankle.  He raised my leg just a little and I looked up to his face to meet his eyes.  However, his eyes were traveling down the length of my leg and up my skirt.  He had given himself a pretty decent view of my panties when he had raised my leg.  I didn’t really mind.  He’d seen my panties before.  Hell, he’d seen me put on these particular ones this morning.

“Michael—”

He cut me off.  I don’t believe I’ve ever finished a sentence that began with his name.

“Come here.”

His voice sounded thick.  Was Agent Farlini choked up on tears?  Surely not.

I sat up, mindful of his foot, and knelt by his hips, mindful of my ankle.  I ran my hands up his chest as I leaned forward, forced into smiling because the little sea foam green polka dots were actually smiley faces.  Michael Farlini was not a smiley face kind of guy.  My hands reached his shoulders and slid around his neck.  I rested some of my weight on his chest via my forearms, forcing my back to bow in a little.  It wasn’t terribly comfortable, but it put our faces close together.

Michael raised his hands to cradle my face.  I gave him a chaste kiss and smiled into his frowning face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You were nearly killed today.”

“I hardly think a sprained ankle constitutes a near death experience.”

“You know what I meant.”

His low bass voice rumbled out of his throat and I could see the vibration of his Adam’s apple.  I leaned down to kiss it, but his hands stopped my face, pulling me to his lips instead.

Michael Farlini was a passionate man and it showed in everything he did.  In his work, in his training, with his family, in his bed.  Apparently he was even passionate on gurneys.

Unfortunately, the town sheriff, a state trooper, and two federal agents (one of whom was our Supervisory Special Agent) pulled back the dividing curtain at just the right moment to find Michael’s tongue so far in my mouth we might be able to use the excuse that I had dared him he couldn’t touch my tonsils with his tongue to cover it up.

But, for some reason, I didn’t think any of them were going to buy it.


	2. Chivalry

I was in one of those awkward positions that are usually reserved for sitcoms.  You know, my butt in the air, face kind of squished up against Michael as I turned to the side.  The state trooper was grinning ear-to-ear.  Apparently he liked sitcoms.  Needless to say, the other three were not so amused.

I felt Michael pull his tongue back into his own mouth so that when we pulled apart maybe it wouldn’t look so bad.  I pulled away carefully and was thankful I hadn’t reapplied my lipstick since eight that morning.  I sat on the edge of the gurney, my eyes downcast.  I knew I should have been looking up, meeting their eyes, but I couldn’t do it.

“Dr. Milligan, may I have a word with Agent Farlini in private?”

I swallowed as quietly as I could, trying to decipher what my SSA was really saying with that frighteningly calm, neutral voice.  I wondered off-handedly if he practiced that voice as I hopped off the gurney.  Deep in that thought, I forgot I was wearing only one heel.  When my right foot connected with the floor before my left, it caused me to pitch to the side, and I instinctively caught myself with my left foot.  My ankle gave out on me at the sudden impact and I went all the way to the floor, hitting my head on one of the metal braces of the gurney.  It hurt more than just a little.

I held my head just above my left eye and could feel the blood squishing around under my fingers.  I tried not to let any blood show; so then they wouldn’t know how bad it was.  I felt someone tugging at my wrist and I opened my eyes.  Agent Messer’s blue eyes were staring into mine.  I didn’t remember him kneeling beside me.  I looked up and saw the state trooper trying very hard not to laugh.  Not because he didn’t want to get in trouble, but because he was afraid I might have really hurt myself and laughing would be cruel.

Agent Redding looked down on me coolly, as always and ever, in control.  Sheriff Dawson frowned at me with something close to disgust.  He had been giving me that look since I arrived in town three weeks ago.  Maybe he thought I was too young to be a doctor.  Or my hair was too long to know how to use a gun.  Or maybe it was the breasts.

Messer managed to pull my hand away and blood spilled over my eye.  The cut was deeper than I thought.  The state trooper sobered immediately and crouched down on my other side, asking if I was okay.  Sheriff Dawson settled back on one heel, his gut hanging dangerously over the edge of his belt that his thumbs were hooked in.

“This is what happens when you put a woman in a man’s environment,” the sheriff grumbled.

Messer shot the sheriff a look as he and the trooper helped me to my feet.  The trooper pulled out a white handkerchief and Messer pressed it to my forehead.  I was glad I managed not to flinch.

“Let me see it,” a voice said.

I finally managed to look away from the floor and saw that Dr. Love was back on the scene.  I didn’t really want to be examined in front of everybody, but I didn’t want to walk on my ankle again.  I was feeling nauseous as it was.

“Sheriff Dawson, Deputy Salinski, stay with me while Dr. Milligan gets her head examined.  Agent Messer, go with her in case she needs help.”

I forced myself to meet Redding’s eyes, and then wished that I hadn’t.  I don’t know which is worse: getting caught doing something this stupid by someone you hate or by someone you respect.  I was beginning to think someone you respect is worse.

Redding was the embodiment of Federal Agent.  His grey suit hung dignifiedly on his lanky frame, which managed not to be awkward.  His face was all strong angles and handsome enough, but not memorable by any means.  He had flat blue eyes and plain brown hair trimmed neatly to his head.  Only his tie, which was a tame blue with one lime green stripe running crookedly down, hinted that maybe there was a little more to him than white bread American male.  I always wanted to see him at the office Christmas party; to see if he would get up on the desks after a few drinks and belt out Christmas carols on the rented karaoke machine.  I guess now I would never find out.  Less than one year at the FBI and I was already getting kicked out.

I finally had to look away from Redding.  I hated how much it hurt to have him look at me not with anger, but with disappointment.  Most days I wonder why I open my mouth at all, but it’s only certain days that I wonder why I bother to get up in the morning.

I took a step toward Dr. Love and swayed into Messer.  He bent down and scooped me up under my knees.  I had no choice but to grab his neck and allow myself to be carried.  Sheriff Dawson gave a short, derisive snort.  We all heard the exclamation of “women” in our heads that the sheriff wisely kept to himself.  I let my head fall onto Messer’s shoulder, too tired to worry about my lost dignity and composure.

I heard the curtain being pulled back around Michael’s gurney and I strained my ears to hear anything.  Redding was apparently waiting for me to get out of hearing range.

Messer placed me on an examining table and Dr. Love pulled back the handkerchief.  I felt blood trying to push through the forming clot.  I guess it was a _really_ deep cut.  Dr. Love seemed to think the same thing because he called to a nurse to bring him a suture kit and then ran off to get something.  I sighed and put the handkerchief back to my head.  I glanced at Messer.

Sitting on the table, our eyes were even.  He was a short man with blonde hair and blue eyes.  I wondered how he had carried me over here.  I’m 5’8” and a good four inches taller than him.  However, I quickly stopped thinking about his height.  He had a smile on his face that could have been anger, amusement, or confusion.  Probably all three.

“What were you thinking, Milligan?”

I frowned.  I hate that question.  It means that whatever reasoning I had done before was basically lunacy.

“What was I thinking when?  When I decided to join the FBI?  When I decided to take my gun with me to the marina this morning?  Or when I decided to start sleeping with Michael?”

That puzzled smile disappeared from his face and was replaced with complete surprise.  “You’re sleeping with him?”

I made a face.  “What did you think you just walked in on?”

“Well, I just thought, well, Farlini is such a by the books kind of guy.  I just figured you got caught up in the moment and jumped on him.”

“Thanks a lot, Messer.  One: I shot his toe.  He wasn’t going to die, so, no moment to get caught in.  And two: you know Farlini would never let something like that happen.  Even if you guys walked in at just the wrong moment, I never would have gotten that close.  He’d have pushed me away.”

“I don’t know about that.  If I had a woman like you crawling all over me, I sure as hell wouldn’t try to stop you, Olivia.”

“Well, you aren’t Farlini.”

“No, no I’m not,” Messer said softly.  “Do you think he’ll try to play it off as your fault?”

I looked up at Messer, ready to tear him a new one for that, but I hesitated.  I didn’t think Michael would do something like that, but I did know that his job was more important to him than I.  I never got a chance to answer Messer.  Dr. Love was back and ready to begin work on my injury.

“You want local?” Dr. Love asked.

“No, just do it.  It’s deep, but short.  It shouldn’t take more than five.”

Dr. Love nodded and took a threaded needle from a nurse who had joined us.  The doctor prepared to make the first stitch and Messer leaned in real close to watch.  Dr. Love glanced at him and he backed up about three inches.  I gritted my teeth when the needle bit in, but it wasn’t too bad.  Nothing was too bad after what had happened today.  Or so I thought.  And I was wrong.  As bloody all usual.

“Put your hands up!  Hands up!  Step away from the desk, cocksucker.  Come on, bitch, move!”

I stared in shock as the man we had arrested that morning (and cost Michael his toe in the process) forced his way into the emergency bay with a teenaged candy striper held at gunpoint.  The girl was trembling and crying.  She was small for her age, red hair, and I was willing to bet she had blue eyes.  She fit this guy’s MO perfectly.

“All right, don’t get stupid, fucker.  On the floor.”

The doctors and nurses who had been clustered at the nurses’ station lined up nicely on the floor and laced their fingers on top of their heads.  Three of the nurses were crying now.  I saw the gunman swing crazed eyes toward us.  The gun was pointed at Messer’s chest and the girl was being forced to walk in front of her kidnapper.

I should have been more worried, but the thought of four armed officers of the law hidden from the gunman’s knowledge made me feel better.  The wailing candy striper didn’t know that however, and I wanted to help her calm down before she hyperventilated.

“Hey now, Ronnie, what’s with the gun and theatrics?”

Ronald Aldmen focused completely on me.  I tried not to wilt under his glare.  He took a step forward and kicked the closest nurse in the head.

“Stop crying, bitch.”

The nurse choked back her sobs and the others tried to quiet down as well.  Ronnie tightened his grip on the candy striper’s arm.

“Come on, Ronnie,” I said, as calmly as I could manage, “remember the game?  If we caught you, you’d play nice.”

“If he caught me, if _he_ caught me.  Not you.”

I saw Messer glance at the curtain and I willed him not to do it again.  Ronnie didn’t seem to notice.

“ _You_ figured me out.  Not him.  He cheated.”

“I didn’t do it on my own.  I only helped him.”

“That wasn’t in the rules!”  He was screaming now.  Turning your throat raw kind of screaming.  “I didn’t have any help!  So he doesn’t get any help!  He cheated.  So, I came here to kill him.  I know he’s here.  I’ll turn myself in after he’s dead.  But he cheated!  Rules are rules!”

Ronnie started walking further into the ER, looking for Michael.  If he pulled back that curtain, he could very well fire off a couple rounds before the others took him down.  Furthermore, the others’ bullets might catch the candy striper since he appeared to be taking her with him.  Letting Ronnie reach that curtain was not an option.

“But you didn’t kill him in Marbury.”

Ronnie stopped.  He had walked straight from the double doors and was now equidistant from the curtain and me.  Messer was trying to place himself as much in between me and Ronnie as possible without seeming like he meant to.  Dr. Love and the nurse had their hands in the air.  All I needed to do was get Ronnie to turn his back on the curtain.

“Marbury.  Why didn’t you kill him in Marbury?  You told us all you let him go.  But, you knew I was there then.”

“But I didn’t know you were helping then.  I thought you were just his bitch.  I almost killed him that night for not being fair.  I didn’t have anyone to fuck.”

“Didn’t have anyone to fuck?!”  Messer took an aggressive step forward.

I grabbed his shoulder and made him stand still.  Ronnie smiled and lifted the girl up so she hung against him awkwardly from her arm.

“What, these?” he asked.  “They don’t count.”  He put the girl back on her feet.  He was still partially facing the curtain.  Any movement would alert him to Michael and the others.  He’d have plenty of time to put the gun to the girl’s head.

“So, I didn’t have a bitch, but I was getting off.  So, I figured he could get a hooker.”

I crossed my arms over my chest.  “Hooker?” I asked icily.

“Oh, come on.  You were wearing that red skirt thing.  No businesswoman wears something that color unless sex is their business.”

I scowled.  I liked that color.

“But that ain’t the point, is it you whore?!”  Ronnie was getting agitated again.  “You ain’t that kind of whore, but you’re still a whore.  You ain’t married to him.  But every time he knocked on your door you spread your legs and showed him your slit.”

I flinched.  My boss was in the room whether Ronnie knew it or not.  And that candy striper was young.  She didn’t need to hear this kind of language.  I was also trying to desperately ignore the implications of how Ronnie knew all this.  I think it showed on my face.

“Yeah, that’s right.  I was there with you two some nights.  You usually closed the curtains, but _Dr._ Milligan, I’m sure you know a stethoscope helps you hear through glass.”

I felt my cheeks burning and was very glad that everyone was focused on the man with the gun and not looking at me.

“But you know what, whore?  You left the curtains open last night, and I went along for the ride.”

I felt tears burning at the back of my throat and threatening to spill from my eyes.  But, for that final jab, he faced me fully, putting his back to the curtain.  The sheriff pulled it back and Ronnie turned, bringing the gun to the girl’s head.  The deputy was there struggling with Ronnie’s grip and Redding went to the floor, taking out the killer’s feet.  Michael grabbed Ronnie’s other arm and twisted it behind his back, pulling so violently that Ronnie ended up on his stomach.  The deputy got the gun away and Redding was pinning Ronnie’s other arm down.  Messer had drawn his weapon and crossed the room, holding it steadily aimed at Ronnie’s head.  Sheriff Dawson was still holding the curtain.  The candy striper had moved away from the struggle, but now sat on the floor making almost as much noise as Ronnie.  None of the doctors or nurses had moved.

“Sheriff Dawson,” Redding said, still cool, “get on the horn and get some men down here.  Then I’d like you to explain how this man got out of your custody in the first place.”

The sheriff’s face was pure anger, and it wasn’t for Ronnie.  He took out his walkie-talkie and began calling for backup.  The deputy had taken out his handcuffs and Michael put one on the hand he had pinned, and then let Redding raise the other arm to the cuffs.  Then they helped, or forced rather, Ronnie to his feet.  Michael was standing with most of his weight on one foot, just the ball of the other resting lightly on the floor for balance.  He looked over at me.

It was only then that I became aware the tears had fallen and were streaming down my face.  I felt so weak at that moment and hated myself.  Then, the closest thing to emotional distress I’d ever seen Michael express passed over his features.  He turned abruptly and nailed Ronnie with a left hook.  And Ronnie went down.


	3. Reassigned

Tuesday afternoon found me out of Alabama and back in Washington, DC.  I was wearing a navy blue pantsuit and the five stitches over my eyebrow were ugly enough that I had put a Band-Aid over them.  My dark brown, shoulder length hair was pulled half back and I kept my dark blue eyes focused on the coffee stain in front of Director Douglas’ desk.

That’s right.  Director Douglas.  This wasn’t being dealt with by our SSA, Redding.  And it wasn’t being dealt with by a Special Agent in Charge or an Assistant Director in Charge.  No, for some unfathomable reason, this had been sent to the top.  Michael and I had been waiting in Director Douglas’ office for 20 minutes now.  It had been a long, quiet twenty minutes.

“I’m sorry this happened,” I said so suddenly I startled myself.  “I know I can’t do anything to make it up to you, but you can blame it on me.  A one-time thing.  I was a little overzealous and just jumped on you.  Or something.”

Michael gave a soft, short laugh.  “Do you think I regret what happened between us, Milligan?”

I turned to look at him, but he was frowning at his nails.  The door to the office opened and Director Douglas, Assistant Directors Hernandez and Nelson, and Agent Redding paraded in.  Maybe parade isn’t quite right.  They were somber enough to be part of a funeral procession.  God I hoped I was wrong as usual and nobody’s career was coming to a screeching halt.

The men all wore identical black suits.  The only thing that differed was the blandness of their ties.  Hernandez was a short Hispanic man, Nelson was a medium-sized white man, and Douglas was a tall black man.  I’d met them all in passing before, but this was not the way I wanted to meet them again.

Douglas sat down at his desk and Hernandez and Nelson flanked him.  They remained standing, looking like ineffective bodyguards.  Redding took the chair next to me.  I forced myself to look up at Douglas.  He was pretending to look through the report Michael and I had written.  Finally, he closed it and looked at me.

“Most everything appears to be in order,” Douglas began.  “Good work on catching this guy.  He’s been on our list for two years now.”

I wasn’t sure if I should say thank you or not, so I kept quiet.  So did Michael.

“There are, however, a few things we need clarified.  First of all, Dr. Milligan, are you licensed to be carrying a gun now?”

“Yes, sir.  For the past five months actually.”

“Yes, yes.  That unfortunate kidnapping when you first started working convinced Agent Farlini to train you.”

“Well, it was after the second time I was attacked leaving the autopsy bay that he decided to train me.”

“Yes.”

That one word was very curt.  I guess he wasn’t happy about being reminded that the FBI had failed to protect their own twice in a span of five months on government property.  As such, I decided to keep my mouth shut unless asked a direct question.

“Well, getting you weapons training was a good idea.  However, you’ve gone out into the field four times with a gun.  Three of those times you’ve shot a fellow agent.  But, you aren’t actually a field agent, are you, Dr. Milligan?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you think of yourself as a field agent?”

“No, sir.”

“But it seems to me that you’ve been doing more field work with Agent Farlini than his partner.  It’s been brought to my attention that you refer to Agent Farlini as your partner.  Now, I’ll ask you again, Dr. Milligan, do you consider yourself a field agent?”

I focused my eyes on Douglas’ chin.  I thought that if I met his eyes I might start crying.  This was so stupid.  I felt like I had been called to the principal’s office.

“No, sir.”

“No?  Good.  Now, how did Ronald Aldmen escape police custody and end up threatening a 13-year-old candy striper?”

“We were the only agents on the scene,” said Redding, “Farlini, Messer, and myself.  The agents from the Mobile field office had not arrived.  Sheriff Dawson offered to keep Aldmen for us while we took Farlini to the hospital.”

“And you’re saying it took three of you to help get a man to the hospital who had little more than a shot off toe?”

I wanted so badly to interrupt and tell Douglas that a shooting is very traumatic no matter what part of the body is hit.  The victims often go into shock.  Michael hadn’t, but that wasn’t the point.  Redding continued.

“Agent Farlini had also received a blow to the head.  We were concerned he might have a concussion.  Aldmen’s last victim was still alive, but in very bad shape.  Dr. Milligan suggested that Agent Messer take her to the county hospital that was only a few minutes farther away than the town hospital because it is a larger facility.  Agent Messer took the girl and I drove Dr. Milligan and Agent Farlini to the town hospital because time matters with amputations.  Dr. Milligan needed to keep an eye on Agent Farlini in case he had a concussion.  I decided that leaving Aldmen with Sheriff Dawson’s men would be acceptable.”

“And why couldn’t Dr. Milligan drive?”

“She had sprained her ankle and I felt it was unsafe.  Besides, I thought she should keep Agent Farlini awake.”

“I wonder how she kept him awake,” Nelson muttered not quite under his breath.

Douglas strummed his fingers on the desktop once, but I think it was the dark look from Michael that got Nelson to clear his throat and have the good grace to look embarrassed.

“Very well, Agent Redding.  No one was seriously harmed by Aldmen in the hospital, so I don’t think a formal inquiry into your part will be necessary.  However, we have one slight problem.  Aldmen’s lawyers are talking about charging Agent Farlini with assault and suing the FBI.”

“Why?” I asked.  I tried to sink into the chair as the three men in front of me glared at me.  I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw Douglas’ deep, brown eyes soften for a moment.  Then he was back to Jeffrey Douglas, Director of the FBI.

“They are claiming misconduct against the FBI, Dr. Milligan, because Aldmen sustained injuries that were not consistent with his arrest.  He had a dislocated jaw and lost consciousness for several minutes yesterday afternoon.  Can you explain this, Agent Farlini?”

I felt more than saw Michael shrug.

“Damn it, Farlini, you can’t go around pummeling the bad guys because they made your girlfriend cry.”

“God damn it, Jeff.”

I looked over at Michael and he was giving Douglas a look that was more annoyed than angry.  I couldn’t believe he had lost his temper, and furthermore, that he had addressed Douglas so informally.  I hadn’t known they had that kind of relationship.

“Assistant Director Hernandez, Assistant Director Nelson, I believe you have all the information pertaining to this case you need.  I will personally handle the concerns of the lawsuit and any disciplinary actions that may be taken against Agent Farlini and Dr. Milligan.  That is all either of you may report outside of these walls.”

“Yes, sir,” the men said in perfect unison.  They walked stiffly out of the room and Nelson shot me a real nasty parting look, but I was too concerned about what was about to happen next.

Nothing happened for the next few minutes.  We all sat in silence.  I was wondering if Douglas was waiting for Redding to leave.  I wished he would.  If we were about to dissect my love life, I didn’t want him here.  For some reason it felt like someone was going to discuss my sexual exploits in front of my father.  I tried focusing on the framed pictures of the president and vice president hanging on the wall behind Douglas’ desk.  They didn’t seem too pleased with me either.

“Mikey, is this how you want to go out?”

I looked at Michael.  Mikey?  I wasn’t even allowed to call him “Mike,” and I was sleeping with the guy.  Michael ignored me and settled back in his chair, lacing his fingers over his stomach.

“What do you mean, Director Douglas?”

“Cut the shit, Mikey.  We came into the FBI together.  We went through training together.  We had the same dreams.”

I looked back at Douglas and saw the grey sneaking into the coarse black hair at his temples.  It reminded me how old Michael was.  Michael didn’t respond to Douglas.

“Look, for some reason you decided to stay in the field and limit your advancement here.  I respected your decision.  Hell, I’m thankful for it because otherwise you would be sitting here instead of me.  But you had the chance to retire from the FBI as one of the best directors in this institution’s history.  Now you’ll probably be remembered as the agent who got caught diddling his secretary.”

“Jeff,” said Redding, “don’t belittle Dr. Milligan because you’re mad at Mike.”

I blinked.  Well, it seems everybody was just familiar and friendly with everybody here.  I had never heard Redding call Michael anything other than Agent Farlini, even to his face.  I suddenly felt like I wasn’t in the room, but like hell if I was going to remind them that I was.

“Jeff,” Michael said, rubbing his forehead, “this really isn’t a matter that you should be involved in anyway.  There is no policy about FBI employees from different squads not dating each other.  Furthermore, she’s not my partner or even in my department.  We’ve only been working together closely for this particular case and there was no reason to believe she would be working with me on a permanent basis.  Therefore, I see no reason why our relationship should be a cause for concern.”

“Fuck, Mikey, you’re grooming her to work beside you.  Did you want to replace Messer that badly?”

“Messer and I have worked through our differences and maintain a professional relationship.  And I was not grooming her.  She’d already been victimized twice for working on other cases before she was brought in on this one.  I’d known Aldmen for a year and a half.  I didn’t put it past him to attack Olivia.  I only wanted her to be able to defend herself.”

“You took her into the field with you.”

“Seeing the bodies where they had been left was what helped her crack the case.  And the men who were injured concurred that they were shot by accident and through no fault of Olivia’s.  This time was just plain bad luck too.”

Douglas’ eyes flicked to me and then settled on Michael.

“You do realize that you’ve called her by her first name twice in less than a minute, don’t you?”

“Oh, fuck you, Jeff.  This has nothing to do with our professional relationship, does it?  What are you trying to get at?”

“I don’t like what you’re doing to her.  You take some fresh, young doctor and help her get recognized by the higher-ups.  What if she thinks the only way to get anywhere here is on her back?”

Douglas continued, cutting all three of us off.

“And I really hate what you’re doing to Margie, Mikey.  The divorce isn’t even finalized.”

My head snapped over toward Michael so quickly my vision swam for just a moment.

“Ah, shit, Mike,” said Redding.  It was the first time I’d ever heard him curse.  “You didn’t tell her?”

“Look,” said Michael heatedly, “as far as I’m concerned the marriage is over.  Margie just won’t sign the damn papers.”

He glanced at me and then quickly looked away.  I suddenly found my nails very interesting.  God, I was so stupid sometimes.

“Dr. Milligan.”

I looked up at Douglas.

“I realize this is probably very difficult for you.  You won’t be punished for this.  Having a relationship with another FBI employee that isn’t even in your division is not against any sort of policy.  Although you should have considered the fact that the two of you were working so closely on the same case.”

We all heard the huge “but” coming.

“But I feel it would be best if you were transferred to a different field office.  The office in Norfolk has been in need of a forensic analyst, as well as the local PD’s.  I’ve already had the paperwork started.  The transfer will be effective immediately.  Once you leave here you can gather your belongings at Quantico.  Moving expenses are taken care of, of course, and Agent Danica Springs has offered to let you stay with her while you search for an apartment.  She’ll be in contact with you soon.  That is all.”

It took a couple seconds for all that to sink in.  Douglas had made sure that I would be sent away from Michael as quickly as possible so that I wouldn’t tarnish his perfect record.  And he was dismissing me now, separately from Michael, so that I would be gone and out of his life without him having to deal with me.  I suddenly knew what it meant to utterly despise someone.

I stood up from my chair and turned without saying a word to Douglas.  I saw Michael raise a hand, as if to stop me, but he didn’t touch me.  I moved as slowly as I could past him. But he left his hand motionless in the air.  It was Redding who stopped me.

“Dr. Milligan, when you get to Norfolk, speak with Agent Weems.  He’s a friend of mine and he’ll help you get settled.”

I smiled at Redding and ignored his proffered hand.  I bent down and hugged him loosely around the neck.  He was surprised for a moment, then patted me awkwardly on the shoulder.  I stood back up.

“Thank you, Agent Redding, for everything.”  I looked at Douglas.  “And I didn’t even have to look at you from my back.”

Douglas remained expressionless, but I heard Michael curse under his breath.  I smiled at Redding again and then walked out of Douglas’ office.  I stood in front of the closed door for several minutes, waiting for Michael to run out and stop me.  I knew he wouldn’t come, but I had to wait a little while.  Douglas’ secretary gave me a few strange looks as I stood there, not moving or speaking.

Usually, this is the type of situation when I start crying.  But I suddenly realized I was through crying.  I looked at the worst terrors men could inflict on their fellow man everyday and felt nothing.  My current pain was nothing in comparison.  I could condition myself to feel nothing in every aspect of my life and it would save me a lot of grief.  I now understood that I could be just as happy as not if I never saw Michael Farlini again.

I gave a small laugh as I scratched my temple and headed for the elevators.


	4. Messages

By the time I pulled into the parking garage of my apartment complex, I realized that saying I felt nothing and feeling nothing were two completely different things.  At least I wasn’t crying.

I had stopped by the FBI Laboratory in Quantico on my way home.  I didn’t really have an office there since I had spent so much time on the road following Aldmen, but I wanted to say goodbye to some people and clean out my locker.  I live in Stafford, which is (in good traffic) twenty minutes away from Quantico, but it was definitely night by the time I wrestled my keys into the lock and kicked the door open with my foot.

I tripped over my white cat, Fuzzball, as I walked in.  I know, I know.  Fuzzball is a stupid name, but at least I didn’t name him Snowball, right?  Fuzzball stayed under my feet as I placed the small box with my “office” effects on the coffee table and headed into the kitchen.  Fuzzball’s food bowl was full and I realized I had forgotten to tell the neighbor’s kid that I was back.  He must have come in after I left for work sometime.  I bent down and picked Fuzzball up.  He sniffed at my face a little and then gave a plaintive meow.

“You don’t love me either.  You just want a kitty treat.”

Fuzzball blinked.  I set him on the counter and dumped a few treats out next to him from the canister that sat next to the cookie jar.  Only the important stuff goes on the counter.

I walked to my phone to call the neighbors and saw I had messages on my machine.  I pushed the blinking button and leaned on the counter to listen.  The computerized voice screeched out of the outdated box.

“You have four messages.”

Four?  I raised my eyebrows.  I’d only had three after being gone for three weeks.  Four in one day?  Maybe word about Michael and me had already spread.

“Liv, it’s Stephanie.  I know you don’t want to hear this, but our ten-year high school reunion is coming up at the end of October.  Please tell me you’ll come.  Come on, come on, come, please?  Call me back soon.  Bye.”

The machine beeped and I could feel my face scrunched up with pain.  High school reunion?  Was she kidding?  I was 28, unmarried, and had just been demoted at my job.  Yeah, sure, I would go.

“Olivia, sweetheart, this is Mom.  When are you going to change your answering message?  It’s awful.  Hush, Rick, it is awful.  Your father says hello.  Now, I want you to call me back right away and tell me your calendar is clear this weekend.  I’m having a dinner party and Linda Ware is bringing her son, Ronald, over.  He’s recently 30 and made junior partner at his law firm.  I’ve met him and he’s adorable.  Call me back tonight.  Love you, sweetie.  Hush, Rick, I’m on the phone.  Your father says he loves you.  Goodnight.  Call me.”

The machine beeped.  Great.  I could go meet some guy and break the ice by telling him I just caught a child molesting serial killer named Ronald.  Hmm?  No, he’s in jail.  Did I catch him?  No, I just shot the toe off the man I’d been sleeping with.  What’s that?  No, no relationship, just sex.  But, don’t worry, the sex is over now.

“Hello, this message is for Olivia Milligan.  My name is Danica Springs.  I believe Director Jeffrey Douglas mentioned me.  He said you would be coming down tomorrow or Thursday to look at apartments here in Norfolk.  It’s only about a two to two and a half hour drive from Stafford.  I’ll give you my phone number and you can call for directions.  You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to find an apartment.  I look forward to meeting you.  My number is 757-368-4875.  I’ll talk to you soon.”

The machine beeped.  Well, Douglas sure had moved fast.  I would be down tomorrow or Thursday?  Good grief did he want me gone.  I only had a month left on my lease, so I guess I would just have to pay for the month and move out soon.

“Milligan.  It’s Farlini.  Uh, Michael Farlini.  I’m—I’m at home.  By the phone.  If you want to talk, give me a call.  It’s up to you.”

The machine beeped.  “End of messages.”

I propped my elbows on the counter and put my chin in my hands.  Fuzzball rubbed his head in the hollow formed by my eye and nose.  I tapped my index fingers on the sides of my face.  Who did I call first and did I want to call Michael?  Yes, I wanted to talk to him, but maybe that wasn’t a very good idea.  Maybe I should just get out of his life like Douglas wanted me to.  The way things were now, I was pretty sure I could leave and not look back.  But if I called him tonight, I would probably ask him over.  He would come and then we’d spend the night together.  Not a good way to break off the relationship.  No, I shouldn’t call him.  I called my neighbors instead.

“Hello, Mrs. Wayne, this is Olivia.”

“Trudy, Olivia, you make me feel old.  So, you’re back?  You were gone so long this time.”

“Yeah, three weeks.  Can you tell Danny he can stop by and pick up his payment tomorrow anytime?”

“Oh, Olivia, you give him too much.  He doesn’t need to be paid for filling up the cat’s water bowl.”

“Well, he also had to clean the kitty litter and stuff too.  Kept Fuzzball company.  And I promised to pay him.”

“Oh, alright.  But don’t give him too much.”

“I won’t.  Goodnight, M—Trudy.”

“Goodnight, Olivia.”

I hung up.  One down.  Now, whom did I call next?  The crazy friend, the matchmaking mother, the complete stranger, or the ex-bed partner?  Wait, wait, no ex-bed partner.  No.

I called my friend, Stephanie.  It was one of those friends-since-first-grade kind of friendships.  She was one of a very few high school friends I still kept in contact with.  I sighed relief when I got her machine.  I wasn’t up for faking cheerful and excitement.

“Steph, it’s Liv.  Got your message, and yeah, I’ll go.  But, I’m moving this weekend.  I’ll give you the details later.  Tell me when and where this thing is and I’ll try to come.  But, work can pull me away a lot.  You know my e-mail address.  I’ll talk to you later.  Bye.”

Two down.  I knew I wouldn’t be so lucky as to get my parents’ answering machine, so I called Danica Springs instead.

“Hello?”  The voice sounded like a prepubescent child and I couldn’t determine the sex.

“Hello, may I speak with Danica Springs?”

“Just a sec.  Moooooooooooom!”

I pulled the phone away from my ear a little.  That was quite a set of lungs there.

“Hello?”

“Danica Springs?”

“Yes.”

“This is Olivia Milligan.”

“Oh, hello.  How are you?  Jeff told me you were looking for a move.”

“Well, one was looking for me anyway.  I don’t think I’ll be able to come down tomorrow, but I’d hate to bother you on a workday.  Maybe this weekend would be better?”

“Oh, no, you’re no bother.  Is Thursday okay?”

She sounded a little anxious.  What exactly had Douglas said to her?

“Uh, Thursday’s fine, but I hate to impose.”

“No, no, not at all.  Do you know where the FBI offices are down here?”

“No, but I can look it up.”

“Okay, well, why don’t we meet here at 12:30, and then I can take you out to lunch and show you around Norfolk.”

“Sounds good.  Thank you very much for helping me out.”

“Not at all.  I owe Jeff a favor.  So, I’ll see you Thursday at 12:30?”

“Yes, 12:30.”

“Okay, then.  Goodnight.”

She hung up before I could respond.  Owed Jeff a favor?  Well, as long as I didn’t get caught up in whatever inter-office politics were going on, I guess I could deal with involuntary hospitality.  Three down.  Now the parents.

The conversation with my mother went on far longer than I intended.  I had to give a very modified version of the tracking and apprehension of Ronnie Aldmen.  Then I had to come up with three great fake reasons I was moving to Norfolk and why it was happening so soon.  Then I had to carefully work my way out of the dinner party.  That didn’t exactly work and I would be at my parents’ house at 6:00 sharp on Saturday evening.  Great.

By the time I finished with all my phone calls, it was after eight, I was still in my suit, and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet.  I stood in my dark kitchen fiddling with the cordless phone.  Do I call Michael?  No, the answer is no.  A clean break is best.  I sighed and put the phone in its cradle.  If this was a clean break, I’d hate to see a messy one.


	5. Enter: Vampire

Man does I-95 suck.  I swear, people now-a-days just don’t know how to drive.  I, of course, am a very proficient driver and hardly ever get road rage.  No comments from people who know me.

I was in Hampton, which is just across a river from Norfolk at 12:00.  I thought I was going to be very early to my meeting with Danica Springs, but to get over the river there is a bridge and a tunnel.  And as Murphy’s Law dictates, it takes no less than half an hour to go through a quarter mile tunnel.  I was actually fifteen minutes late to our meeting.  Of course, it didn’t help that security didn’t want to let me in because he didn’t believe my badge was real.

Finally, I met Danica Springs.  She was a tall woman, and by tall I mean taller than me.  She was probably 5’10” or so, most of it leg.  She wore an off-white blouse with a grey skirt so short even I would have thought twice before wearing it to work.  Her mouse brown hair was pulled into a tight bun and her hazel eyes were set in a stern, pale face.  It was kind of hard to believe she was a mother at all, let alone the mother of a child as old as the one I talked to on the phone.  She had either started really early or kept herself in excellent shape.  She didn’t look a day past 30.

She smiled tightly and thrust her hand out at me.  I accepted her hand carefully, afraid she might try to rip my arm off.  Danica Springs was not at all happy to meet me.  I wondered what I had ever done to her.

“Dr. Milligan, it’s a pleasure.  I hope your drive down was not difficult?”

I opened my mouth to make conversation by explaining the tunnel, but decided to simply say, “It was fine.”

Danica’s tight smile relaxed a little.  Clearly she was happy that I had figured out I was a nuisance.  She grabbed a jacket from the back of her office chair that matched the skirt.  Then she ushered me out of her office before I could even appreciate the color scheme.  She walked so fast down the hallway that I was forced to simply follow behind.  Why did I keep feeling like an elementary school student at my job?

Danica chose to take the stairs down the three stories to the parking garage, carefully avoiding an awkward silence in the elevator.  Fine with me.  She was descending smoothly, if not gracefully, in her grey heels.  I moseyed after her in my tennis shoes.  I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt because I wasn’t working today.  Being late September in Virginia, well, at least this close to the coast, it was still warm and pleasant enough that I didn’t even need a windbreaker.

Danica cruised through the rows of cars and stopped by a year-old model Lexus.  The car beeped as she unlocked it with her key chain.

“I think it would be best if you followed me in your car.  That way, after lunch, you can start looking for an apartment rather than coming all the way back here.”

She opened the car door and slid in, shutting the door without waiting for a reply from me.  I shrugged and walked toward my decade old Honda Accord.  No awkward silences in the car either.  Okay, fine with me.  I liked my dark blue piece of junk with the chipping paint job, bald tires, and junkyard for a backseat.  It still ran perfectly fine, however; that’s Japanese efficiency for you.

Danica drove slowly and carefully, never running yellow lights or letting a car get in between us.  That was awfully nice of her.  Of course, she may have only done that to save herself the headache of looking for me later.  She pulled into the parking lot of a small mall and I found myself in a Ruby Tuesday’s sitting uncomfortably across the table from Danica within ten minutes.  I wonder if she changed her original destination due to my attire.  Or maybe she wanted some place cheap in case she offered to pay and I accepted.

A young, tired-looking waitress approached our table.  She flipped her pad open and told us her name was Lindsay and she would be serving us today.  Would we like a beverage?

“Separate checks,” Danica said.  “I’ll have water with very little ice and two lime slices.”

I looked down at the table to keep from grinning at Danica.  People like her just amused the hell out of me.  I looked up at the waitress and smiled in what I hoped was a controlled manner.

“I’ll have raspberry iced tea.”

The waitress scribbled something down and then turned and left.  I looked out across the restaurant to keep from shaking my head at Danica.  There was a table with two young mothers and their three toddlers.  An old couple sat a few tables away from them.  A lone businessman was eating his fries as he read a newspaper.  I thought that was all who was in the restaurant aside from us, and then I saw him.  He sat by himself in a booth, and he was looking right at me.

He had a nice enough face: nothing spectacular, but cute enough that someone wouldn’t dismiss him outright.  His hair was that orangey-red that always looks a little funny on a guy, but he managed to pull it off by having it cropped very close to his head.  I suspect it was so short so as to hide its wavy nature.  From the distance we were apart I could tell he was slender, but not if it was due to muscles or natural lankiness.  It was all pretty ordinary, except the eyes that stared at me out of his face.  Usually when a person is 15 or so yards away, the most you can tell about their eyes is whether they are dark or light.  I could see that his eyes were green.  Like, Sprite can green.

I quickly looked back at Danica and found her playing with the wrapper to her straw.  When had our drinks arrived?  How long had I been staring at that man?  I picked up my straw and tapped it on the table.  I could feel the man staring at me.  I put the straw in my tea and looked discreetly over at him.  He was talking to a waitress.  He didn’t look at me at all during the conversation.  I mentally shrugged and focused on Danica.

For the next half-hour I learned very little about Norfolk and nothing about Danica.  She only spoke when I asked her a question, and even then in as few words as possible.  I kept glancing at the man, expecting him to be looking at me.  He never was.  And he never did one of those quick head movements to hide the fact he was looking at me.  I felt a little disappointed.  I guess I wanted him to be watching me, but if he had been, I would have been freaked out.  Oh, well.

“Dr. Milligan?”

I looked back at Danica.  Praise Allah, she’d started the interaction.  She placed a couple sections of newspaper on the table and a local map.

“Here are the apartment listings from the local papers.  I bracketed the ones that are in better parts of Norfolk.  I also marked those areas on the map.  Of course, you can look at them all.  I also highlighted my street in green.  Here is my home number and cell phone number.  If you get lost, don’t hesitate to call for directions or to have us come out to you and lead you there.”

I blinked surprise.  “Thank you very much.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Danica signaled for the waitress, paid her check, and was gone in five minutes.  Ah yes, that was the Danica Springs I had come to know and love.  I paid my bill and gathered up the newspapers and map.  As I left, I noticed that the man with the eyes was long gone.  Oh, well.

Outside the restaurant, in the mall, I spotted a Cinnabun.  I made a beeline for it around a couple housewives and a group of teenagers who were cutting class.  Before I got there, I saw a bookstore.  I always liked to read when I was younger, and I’m a pretty big reader now, never having much to do on a Friday night since my friends all lived too far away.  And Michael had always spent Friday nights going to various high school events in which his sons participated.  Oh, I didn’t mention that?  Yes, Michael has three sons.  One of whom is closer in age to me than I am to Michael.  I decided to get my Cinnabun afterwards since it would be bad to get sticky stuff on the nice, clean books.

I meandered into the store with no real purpose.  My favorite authors had not released anything new recently, and I hadn’t heard anything about the new releases.  So, I just kinda walked around like I was surveying a territory.  I cruised by the nonfiction and the young adult sections.  I hesitated by the cookbooks.  I would probably be cooking at home for the next few weeks until I learned the area.  But, I passed on by and walked through the fiction and classic literature sections.  I pulled up in the Fantasy/Sci-Fi neck of the woods and bent down to pull out a book.  Don’t roll your eyes.  I’ll read anything if it’s well written and the story is interesting.

I put the book back on the shelf and straightened.  And there was Sprite can eyes.  He was on the other side of the bookcase, leaning against it.  While his features were a little ordinary, his skin looked smooth and soft, which gave him a little more appeal.  I saw that despite the red hair and green eyes he didn’t have any freckles.  I also became very aware that his slim physique was due to a subtly well-defined body.  He wore a white T-shirt that advertised what I think was a band; I had never heard of it.  Even leaning I could tell he was a little over six feet tall.  And he was smiling at me.

“Hi.  I couldn’t help but notice you noticing me in the restaurant and I wanted you to know that I noticed you too.”

Geez.  How come I always get caught when I do stuff like that?  And what was I supposed to tell him?  I wasn’t checking him out; I just wanted to see him checking me out?  Which he never did.

Sprite can eyes leaned forward a little bit.

“Hello?”

“Uh, yes.”

Not the normal response to that question, but at least I was talking.

“I mean, hi,” I said.  “I, uh, I’m sorry for—”

“For what?  Staring at me?  I understand.”

He grinned and I felt myself raise an eyebrow and narrow an eye.

“Understand what?”

“Why you would want to stare at me.  Do you have a name?”

“Yes.  And I’m not staring.”

“Oh, I meant at the restaurant, but now that you mention it, you haven’t blinked since I said hi.”

That of course made me blink several times and turn my head away from him.  I was already feeling bad from my encounter with Danica and I hate being embarrassed.  So, I just kept turning and began walking away.  He followed beside me on the other side of the bookshelf.

“So,” he said, “you said you have a name.”

I ignored him and made it past the registers.  He followed me out of the store.  Without the bookcase, he walked as close beside me as possible without touching me.  He didn’t ask me for my name again, but walked in silence with me.  We passed the Cinnabun.  I was pissed.  I wasn’t going to get my Cinnabun because I wasn’t standing in line with this guy.  Why did he have to be creepy?

“Ewan Quinn.”

“What?” I asked, glancing at him and then away.

“ _My_ name is Ewan Quinn.”

I looked at his red-haired, green-eyed persistent ass.  “A bit ethnic, isn’t it?”

Ewan grinned.  “Aye, me ma and pa were from bonny Eire.”

I bit my cheek to keep from smiling.  He had pulled out a perfect Irish accent.  Not that I know much about Irish accents.

“What is _air_?”

“Eire,” he rolled his r a bit more than me, “is the Irish word for Ireland.”

He seemed somewhat educated.  The accent was unfortunately gone.  We had reached the exit of the mall and he held the door open for me.  Smart man.  I see absolutely no conflict between being a strong, independent woman and having a man serve you.

The sky was a bright September blue, absolutely no clouds.  The parking lot was quiet enough that I could hear birds chirping.  I paused on the sidewalk and turned to Ewan.  I didn’t necessarily want him to know where my car was.

“So, Ewan, I take it you have to go back to work now?”

“No.  I don’t work.”

He grinned.  Great, unemployed.  Hey, think positive: maybe he’s so rich he doesn’t have to work.  Ha.

“Look, Ewan, I don’t live around here, okay?  So, you’ll never see me again.”

He shrugged.  “I could live with that.  Besides, aren’t you moving down here?”

He indicated the apartment classifieds in my hand.  I did one of those pointless maneuvers to hide the papers behind my leg even though he had clearly already seen them.

“I haven’t decided to live _here_ yet.  I could live in Hampton or Newport News.  Or even Richmond isn’t an inconceivable commute.”

“Maybe I live in Hampton or Newport News.  Or even Richmond.”

“Do you?”

“You haven’t even told me your name yet.  I’m not going to tell you where I live.”

“What a shame.”

I turned and walked down the sidewalk, away from my car.  I decided to go into Dillard’s, hide in the dressing room if necessary, and then go apartment hunting after I shook him.  Although, I don’t really know why I wanted to shake him.  Maybe I was still feeling loyal to Michael.  Ewan was in step beside me.

“Oh, come on.  Just a first name.  It doesn’t even have to be your real one.  Just something I can call you other than ‘hey babe’ since I don’t think you’ll be partial to that.”

I felt the smile on my face and had the sneaking suspicion that no amount of hiding in a changing room would deter this guy.  I stopped and faced him.  He smiled at me and it went all the way to his eyes, making them seem brighter.  I really did not need this now.

“Olivia.”

“Olivia?  Beautiful.  The name’s nice too.”

I rubbed my forehead with my hand, hiding my face as I tried to cover up my half embarrassed, half goofily satisfied grin.  Ewan took my wrist in his hand and pulled my hand away from my face.  His smile had softened a bit as he looked at me.  I suddenly became very aware of my pulse against his fingertips.  It hadn’t sped up, but I could feel it moving against his soft skin.  No calluses.  Maybe he really was rich enough that he didn’t have to work.  I pulled my wrist from his grip.  For some reason I got the feeling it was only because he let me.

“Thank you, Ewan, I’m flattered by your interest.  Really.  I’m just—not at a point in my life where I’m looking to date.”

“Well, we could be friends.  Not every male/female relationship has to be romantic.”

“I guess not.”

“I can take you to my apartment complex.  Someone just moved out.  Gated community, covered parking garage, tennis courts, swimming pool, central air, dishwasher, washer/dryer: only 1500 a month.  Pretty decent for what’s being offered.  Especially in this area.”

I blinked.  That sounded nice, but was he serious?  Did he expect me to follow some strange guy to some unknown location?  Maybe he wasn’t so smart after all.  I gave him my best I’m-smiling-at-you-but-I-want-to-be-telling-you-to-fuck-off smile.

“Thanks, but 1500’s a little out of my budget.”  A blatant lie.  It was very much out of my budget.  “Look, I’ve got a lot of ads to go through, so I’ve got to go.  Maybe I’ll see you around some time.”

I tried to go again but he jumped around in front of me, holding out his arms.

“Wait, wait.  Come on.  I live around here.  I can look over the ads with you and tell you what’s good.  I saw you eyeing the Cinnabun place.  We can get one and sit down together.”

I made a suspicious face as I glared at him.  He gave one of those “I’ve just won her over” type smiles.  Unfortunately, he had.  I wanted my Cinnabun.  And if I could get him to buy it, I could survive half an hour of talking with him.

“Alright, fine.  But, you’re buying.  And I want extra frosting.”

“You got it.  But, one thing first.”  He heaved a sigh.  “I have to tell you one thing up front before we become friends.”

Well, he certainly was an optimist.

“Okay, lay it on me.”

He smiled sheepishly and spread his hands out in front of him in an “Okay, you got me” kind of gesture.

“I’m a vampire.”


	6. Impromptu Autopsy

The way I saw it, I had four possible reactions for such a statement.  I could one: blink at him.  Two: walk away.  Three: call him a loser.  Four: knee him in the groin.

I did three of the four.  Then turned back and called him a loser for good measure.  He wasn’t crying on the ground like I wanted him to be, but he was bent over with his hands on his knees making a face.

“What’s wrong?  Couldn’t a vampire see that coming?  Shouldn’t you be impervious to pain?”

I know I shouldn’t have taunted the mentally unstable man and just kept walking, but there’s a reason I get into so much trouble.

“A shot to the nuts will stop anything male for a few moments.”

There was a slight lilt to his voice as if normally his accent wasn’t really gone, just hidden.  I rolled my eyes.  What a loser.  I turned and headed for my car.  Today just sucked and I wanted to get the rest of it over with as soon as possible.  I heard him jogging to catch up with me.

“Olivia, wait.”

I wished I hadn’t told him my real name.

“Come on, wait up.  Can’t you take a joke?”

I slowed just a little.  “You were just joking?”

“Well, no, but what if some other guy had just been teasing you and you knocked his berries from his twig?”

I let out a noise with my frustration and sped up.  He grabbed my wrist and I really wished I had my gun on me and that I remembered anything from six months of self-defense lessons I had taken with a girlfriend.  As it was, all I could remember to do was pull down instead of away from him because his thumb would be weaker than his four fingers.  But, that did me no good.  His grip didn’t budge.  I pulled, using my whole body.  He didn’t move.  It was like fighting against a statue.

“Olivia, I know what you’re thinking.  A vampire in this day and age is crazy.”

“The age doesn’t matter.  They never existed.  It was a made up monster based off people who suffered from porphyria and Vlad the Impaler.”

“Well, yeah, Dracula of course.  It doesn’t make sense that because one’s diet consists of blood that he can’t go out in sunlight.  All that’s made up.  But, vampiric creatures exist.  Humans just don’t like to think they could be prey to a predator.”

“Humans have a predator: other humans.”  I pulled against him.  “Let me go.”

He released me and I stumbled backwards.  I turned and walked briskly away.  I could hear him right on my heels.  I was afraid he might try to hurt me if I tried to get in my car, but he was incredibly strong and my best bet was getting to my gun, which was in my car.

“Olivia, can’t you just listen to what I have to say?  As clichéd as it sounds, it’s a matter of life and death.”

My heart quickened at that.  Was he really homicidal crazy?  I could see my car now.  There was a clear path and no other cars were near mine.  However, there were also no people around to hear me if I screamed.

“Please, Olivia, let me prove it to you.”

I had my keys in my hand and I wondered why he was so intent on me.  Couldn’t he find some stupid Goth chick who would want to play vampire and victim?  I suddenly broke into a run and knew that any moment he would grab me from behind.  I made it to my car and amazingly the keys slid right in and the door opened without a struggle.  I glanced over my shoulder as I got in.  He hadn’t run after me; he was walking slowly toward my car.  I started to shut the door, but his next sentence stopped me.

“Get your gun, Olivia.”

I froze and looked at him with the door partway open.  He stopped about five feet from the car.

“I know you have a gun, Dr. Olivia Mae Milligan.  Born on January 3rd to Hillary and Frederick Milligan.  Youngest of three girls.  Graduated from Stonewall Jackson High School as the salutatorian.  Earned a BS in chemistry from ColumbiaUniversity, an MD from the AlbanyMedicalCollege.  Began work at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in January of this year.  Shall I go on?”

I was so completely focused on him that I could see the slight rise and fall of his chest.  I could hear the soft inhalations of his breath.  When the breeze blew just right I could smell the soap he had used that morning and as a result could taste him in my mouth.  I tried to think of reasons why he knew me.  A stalker?  A PI hired by Michael’s wife?  A test from the FBI?

“Our meeting isn’t chance,” he continued.  “Get your gun, Olivia.  Let’s do this now rather than later.  I’d hate to do this and have Danny get caught by a stray bullet.”

Shit.  He knew where I lived.  Knew my neighbors.  I had left my gun in the space between the two front seats, out of sight.  Michael had growled at me on several occasions to always take my gun with me, or if I left it in the car to find a better place to keep it.  Right now though, I couldn’t care less.  I pulled the gun from its holster and slid out of the car, using the door as a shield.  I raised my arms and trained the gun right in between his brilliant green eyes.  He didn’t seem bothered in the least.

“Good, now we’re getting somewhere.  Shoot me.  But, I would advise you not to shoot me in the head.  It wouldn’t be pretty.  For you.”

“What the fuck, man?  There are better ways to commit suicide.”

“I’m not going to die.”

“You’re not a vampire, you crazy fuck, and you will die.”

Ewan took a step closer.  I warned him not to take another step.  He did.  I had no other way of warning of him because the safe action mechanism on my Glock 23 takes the safety off as the trigger is pulled.  I don’t think it would have mattered though.  He stepped forward again.  He was close enough to touch me.  He came around the door and I turned to face him, bending my arms to keep the gun on his chest.  I couldn’t shoot an unarmed man, especially if he hadn’t offered me any physical or verbal threats.

I blinked and one hand was on the roof of my car, blocking my escape, and the other was gripping my wrist and shoving the barrel of the gun into his own stomach.  I flinched from the quickness and force of the movement.  I released the trigger; afraid our struggle might accidentally fire it.  But why was I concerned about shooting him?

“Come on, Olivia, I’ve suitably threatened you.  Shoot.”

I tried to pull my hand free, but his vice-like grip was unshakable.  He pressed our bodies together, trapping the gun at a slight angle between us.  His thumb forced one of my fingers onto the trigger.  I screamed and jerked back.  I would have fallen into the car, but his hand locked on my shoulder, using the leverage from the car roof to keep me standing up straight.

“What’s it going to take, Olivia?”

I opened my eyes and was surprised to find that I had closed them.  He looked down at me with a completely neutral face.  As if we weren’t fully pressed against each other struggling for dominance over the gun that dug into both our bellies.  He raised his hand from my shoulder and grabbed the back of my neck, his thumb pressing in on my throat.  I swallowed and could feel and hear the motion struggle under the pressure.

“Do it now, Olivia.  Don’t force me to leave you with no other option.  After we become friends, I don’t want you thinking back to this moment and knowing the cruelties I’m capable of.”

His grip on the back of my neck loosed and he raised his thumb to play lightly along my lower lip.

“Or the pleasures,” he said softly.

The hand around the gun convulsed and I fought against the pressure on the trigger.  I screamed through clenched teeth and jerked away.  Only, I didn’t move.  Iron.  It was like trying to bend iron.

“Come on, Olivia!”

His hand dropped to the hem of my shirt and flew up the back.  He grabbed the clasp of my bra and yanked down on it.  The shoulder straps dug into my skin and the clasp broke.  I felt the garment go slack.

Not my fault.  Not my fault.  If I shoot him, it’s his fault.  But, God damn it, I’m sick of shooting people by accident.

I fired the gun.  Our bodies muffled the sound and I felt Ewan fall away from me.  I had dropped to my knees with a hand over my stomach, trying to catch my breath.  The recoil sure feels a lot different in your gut as opposed to a locked arm stance.  I coughed a couple times and looked up.

Ewan knelt with one knee and one hand on the ground about three feet away.  The other hand was clutched to his right side.  His head was bowed so I couldn’t see his expression.  Not that it mattered since he shouldn’t have an expression since he should be dead.  Even if the shot had diverted to the right and missed his spine, he should be missing several major organs and already lost enough blood from the grapefruit sized exit wound on his back that he should be dead.

He should be dead.  I kept repeating that to myself in my head, hoping it would help send me into shock.  But, I was too well trained for that.  I had had years of conditioning myself to coolly and detachedly examine the gruesome.  These last few months with the FBI had perfected my ability to stay calm and focused when faced with the obscene.  I was by no means calm at this moment, but my mind wouldn’t shut down and I was forced to deal with my current situation.  And disturbing as it was, I was actually curious as to how he had survived.

He finally looked up with a grimace.  His shirt was still white.  It should be saturated with blood by now.  He made noises that sounded like he was swearing, but if he was it wasn’t in a language I recognized.

“ _Mac an donais._   I forgot how much that stings from point blank range.”

Stings?

Ewan pulled his hand away and I could see the burn marks on his T-shirt.  There were a few spots of red, but that was all.  I wanted to see his back.  There had to be more damage than that.  Maybe he was wearing a very thin layer of Kevlar.  But I knew that wasn’t true.  When he had us pressed together, I had felt the distinct ripple of solid abs through our thin shirts.

Ewan sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, then he gave his hand a shake as if _that_ was what was sore.  He rose shakily to his feet, wincing with almost every movement.  I stayed on the ground where I was.  I knew my knees would buckle if I tried to use them.  But even with that knowledge, when Ewan started toward me, I tried to crab walk away.  Stupid me, I didn’t get into the car, I moved away from it.  He caught up with me easily and knelt in front of me, grabbing my knees with his hands.  I stopped moving, but I could feel myself shaking.  I could feel all the little stones and debris on the ground digging into my palms.  I pressed down harder and concentrated on the pain.

“You’re taking this better than I thought,” Ewan said, now sounding nearly pain free.  “You’re conscious.”  He sighed as he looked down on me.  “We need to talk.  I can explain everything.”

I understood his words, but had no idea how to respond.  Only one part of my brain seemed to be working at a time.  Lucky for me breathing and heart rate are automated.  I thought offhandedly that since I could understand his speech, but not produce any that the Wernicke’s area of my brain was working while the Broca’s was not.  Maybe I _was_ going into shock.

“Olivia, are you okay?”

I swallowed and nodded.  But, that was a lie.  I was not okay.  I was talking to a dead man.  He should be dead.

Ewan sighed and got a crick out of his neck.  “Come on, Olivia.  Either pass out or stand up.  Either way you’re coming with me.”

That got me functioning again.  I screamed out and attempted to launch myself away from him, but his grip on my knees held me still.  I kicked and screamed and hit him with my fists, as if that would succeed where the gun had failed.  At least someone should be able to see or hear our struggle.  It was a mall; where was everybody?

Ewan managed to climb on top of me and trap my legs with his.  Then he put his chest on top of mine and subdued my arms by securing them between my body and his elbows.  His elbows.  His fucking elbows were strong enough to hold me.  One hand he put on my right shoulder and the other covered my mouth.  I was breathing too hard and my eyes were stinging.  I went still when he put his forehead to mine.  His eyes were closed and he looked like he was in pain.

“Look, I haven’t had anything to eat in a while, that’s why there isn’t that much blood.  But that also means I won’t heal as fast and this hurts like a bitch.”

I coughed against his hand as I tried to steady my breathing.  Why couldn’t I just pass out or go into shock?  Maybe if I hyperventilated myself…Ewan raised his head and met my eyes.

“You know how much stronger than you I am, how much faster.  I could have killed you by now.  Or be raping you in the backseat by now.  Believe me when I tell you I don’t want to hurt you.  I need to talk to you.  I need your help.”

Now, I ask you, what would you do in this situation?  I was a little unclear myself.  Do I go along with the crazy dead man and try to escape later?  Play dead?  Good grief.  I somehow managed to find words, but they were muffled against his hand.  His brow creased as he thought for a moment, then he warily lifted his hand.

“What did you say?”

“Don’t kill me.  But if you kill me, don’t rape me first.  But if you rape and then kill me, leave me where I can be found with my clothes on.”

Ewan rolled his eyes.  “Fine, you got it.  Now, get up.”

I was about to inform him that I couldn’t stand up with him lying on me, but he was already on his feet and pulling me to mine.  My head swam and I stumbled forward into his chest.  I propelled myself backwards and gasped as his grip on my wrist nearly pulled my arm out of socket as he jerked me back toward him.  I just stood still with my eyes averted to the ground.  I just couldn’t look at him.

Keeping his hand on my wrist, he bent down and picked up my gun.  Then he leaned into the car and put it back in its holster.  In doing so, he gave me a view of his back.  And there was the grapefruit sized exit wound.  The shirt was torn and ragged, just like the skin and chunks of flesh that hung off his back.  It was all muscle, and very little blood stained the shirt and hunks of skin.  There was no sign of his right kidney or lower intestines.  Not even little chunks of them.

Strange.

Ewan was polite enough to lock my door before he shut it, but unfortunately he didn’t know enough about older Japanese cars.  He didn’t hold the handle out as he shut it, so the lock popped back open.  I think it was designed to make you think while you lock the door so that you don’t leave your keys in the car.  I realized my brain actually did not want to deal with this situation, but full-blown shock still wasn’t an option.

Ewan led me by the hand through the parking lot.  He wasn’t staggering or holding his side.  He looked fine.  Because I wouldn’t look at his back again.  He led me right up to a little red sports car.  For some reason, I would have thought black for him.  He fished a single key out of his pocket and unlocked the car.  The interior was black leather.  Nice car.  He grabbed a black leather jacket from the front seat and shut the door.  He let go of my wrist and slid the jacket on, effectively covering up his wounds.  Then he took me by the hand and started back toward the mall.

“Aren’t we going in your car?”

Did I ask that?

Ewan looked at me and grinned.  “I know you’d like to go for a ride in my cool car, but business first.”

I frowned.  I didn’t want to ride in his car.  I wanted to drive his car, but definitely not ride in it.  Well, maybe I’d ride in it if he weren’t driving.

I looked up as a child laughed.  Suddenly there were people in the parking lot.  Had they been there all along?  Did they really not hear and see our struggle?  None of them gave us a second glance as we walked calmly, hand-in-hand back into the mall.  I wasn’t brave enough to try and stop him, but I was stupid enough to talk to him.

“Why are we going in here?”

“So, that you’ll feel safer.  And besides, you said you wanted a Cinnabun.”

I was shocked into silence.  And I was still in silence five minutes later as I sat across from Ewan in a mall that had gotten considerably more crowded since I first arrived.  There was a large Cinnabun in front of me with extra frosting.  I had lost my appetite.  Ewan didn’t even get one for himself.

“Not hungry?” I asked, staring at the Cinnabun.

“I can’t eat stuff like that.”

“Too fattening?”

I thought I heard him smile.  “Too solid.”

“Ah.”  I played with my fingers and felt somewhat comforted by the sounds of the other mall goers.  My stomach was tight and heat kept washing over me in waves.  I hoped I wouldn’t throw up.  I opened my mouth to ask another question, but couldn’t figure out which of the ten million I wanted to ask first.

“Go ahead, you can ask me anything.”

“But, aren’t you in a hurry?  Life and death and all that.”

“Well, I had planned on you being unconscious for an hour or two, so we’re ahead of schedule.”

I raised my eyebrows.  “Great.”

“Will you look at me?”

“Not yet.”

“Okay.”

We sat in silence again.  Ewan took a sip of water.  I looked at the part of his shirt that showed through his jacket.  I waited to see if it would get damp as water leaked out of the holes in his body.  Nothing happened.  I twiddled my fingers.

“So, vampire, huh?”

I saw his body move as he bobbed his head up and down.  “Yep.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

“Not bad.”

I rubbed my nose and returned my hand to my lap.  A few minutes passed.

“You wanna see?”

My head snapped up.  Did he want me to shoot him again?

He produced a knife from somewhere on his person.  He flicked it open and put his elbows on the table.  Then he placed the blade against his skin and ran it swiftly down the heel of his hand.  It was a pretty deep cut.  I could see the layers of skin and fat pull away to reveal red muscle.  But there was no blood.  The tissue looked healthy, if a little dried out.  Then a thin line of blood trickled down on one side, but that was all.  I swallowed the bile that had risen to my throat.

“Neat trick,” I said.

He shrugged, put the knife away, and placed his hands in his lap.  I most definitely did not want my Cinnabun now.  Ewan waited patiently without moving.  Fuck.  Was I seriously just supposed to be asking him questions about what it’s like to be a vampire?  But, maybe he had some weird, extreme form of anemia that caused the general level of his plasma to drop.  Not bloody likely, but if it were true, Ewan might have learned to manipulate people into thinking he was a vampire.  But, no, because without plasma, you die.  So either way, vampire or anemic, he should be dead.  Damn.

“So, when did vampires first appear on earth?”

He shrugged.  “You got me.”

I finally met his eyes.  “You don’t know?”

“Do you know when the first humans appeared?”

“The first erect bipeds, _Australopithicus anamensis_ , appeared about four million years ago.  The first _Homo sapiens_ , the Cro-Magnons, appeared about forty thousand years ago.”

He smiled uneasily.  “Touché.  But you have an advantage: you studied science in college.”

“Have you ever been to college?”

“Six times.”

I looked away again.  Then looked back at him.  I could do this.  I could hold a normal conversation with the abnormal.

“So, apparently, vampires can come out in sunlight.”

“Yes.  Most of what you know about vampires is myth and legend.  Some of it made up by humans, most of it rumors started by us.”

“Why?”

“We’re predators.  If we tell our prey a cross will keep us at bay, it makes them easier to catch.  Sometimes they won’t even try to run away.  They’ll just pull out a cross or try to stab us with a stake.  Doesn’t do them any good.”

“So, you kill humans?”

“That is the nature of the predator-prey relationship.  We don’t have to kill, but that requires feeding off several different prey.  And then they would all remember and it would just be a big mess.”  He paused.  “Do you think that makes us evil?”

“Not if you think of humans the way we think of cattle.  But I can’t say that it doesn’t bother me.”

“That’s very detached of you.”

“Well, I’m feeling a little detached at the moment.”

“Understandable.”

“So, it’s all myth?”

“Well, not everything.”

“Like what?”

“I can’t keep up with all the stuff that gets said about us.  Tell me the stuff you know and I’ll try to explain it.”

Gee, what should be first?

“Vampires are dead humans.”

“We’re not dead.  But most of us started off as humans.”

Now I had a dilemma.  Do I deal with the not dead issue or the _most_ of us were humans issue?

“You’re not dead?”

“Of course not.  Dead is dead.  If you’re dead you can’t walk and talk and in general do things that most people consider to be things that living people do.  Like, eating, playing, fucking.”

“So, the whole living dead thing—”

“Complete crap.  The only constant in this existence is that everything has an opposite to balance it all out.  Protons and electrons, matter and anti-matter, oxidation and reduction.  Did you notice my judicious use of science examples?”

“Stellar.”

“So, you see, the opposite of dead is alive.  What is the opposite of the undead?  The non-alive.  That’s just alive and dead.”

“You can’t be both?  Like a hermaphrodite?”

He opened his mouth and closed it.  His brow creased.  Then he said, “I never thought of that.  Maybe you could be both.  But, vampires aren’t.  Because we can die.  If you can die, you must be alive.”

“That’s circular logic.  That’s like saying I don’t have to work on Saturdays and since tomorrow I don’t have to work, it must be Saturday.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that vampires are alive.”

“Fine.  So, crosses, stakes, holy water; does that do anything?”

“Nothing, stings a little, gets us wet.”

“Fire?”

“Smoke inhalation isn’t as big a problem for us as it is for humans.  Fire itself can kill us if we’re trapped in it and burn to ash.  We can survive more damage from fire and heal better as well.”

“Garlic?”

Ewan laughed and his eyes lit up.  “That was a combination of porphyria and my friend, Henry.  You know how people with porphyria can sometimes be sensitive to the chemicals in garlic?  Well, Henry thought it would be funny to exploit that and see if humans would actually believe something that lame.”  He laughed again and rocked back in his chair.  “You have no idea how many times people have tried to stop me by throwing garlic at me.”  He grinned, showing his teeth.

“Where are your fangs?”

He kept smiling and I looked at his incisors.  They were perhaps a little more pointy than usual, but were by no means capable of just biting right through skin.

“Ah, well, that’s a personal issue.  But, you might be able to understand it later.  I’m going to take you somewhere where you can see for yourself.”

My heart leapt forward, but was stopped by my ribcage.  I tried to get my body back under control.

“You’re taking me somewhere?”

“Yeah, I told you I needed your help.”

“Why me?”

“I can’t explain that.  Well, yet, anyway.  Do you have any other questions?”

Okay, I’m going to be taken somewhere with him.  Fantastic.  Maybe if I kept him talking I could think of a way out of this.  Yeah, I know, sometimes I’m so funny I come full circle to not being funny.

“So, coffins, inherent evil, how about the whole drinking blood bit?”

“Well, that is true.  We live off blood.  Any blood.”

“So, why humans?”

“Least protected.  Most other animals have fur or feathers or scales.  Humans are just easy targets.”

“But, the superhuman strength and speed, that’s true?”

“Well, we’re faster and stronger.  But, not Superman fast or strong.”

“You can survive gunshots.  How?”

“You’ll probably understand that after I take you to where I’m taking you.”

“Where are you taking me?”

 He smiled.  Jerk.  Without thinking I picked up my fork and dug into my Cinnabun.  I chewed on the sticky sweetness, not really tasting it.

“It’s all myth?”

“Pretty much.”

“So, the whole being gorgeous and having irresistible sex appeal is bull hokey too?”

His face fell.  He blinked at me.  “You didn’t have to make it personal.”

Great.  I had offended the vampire.  I continued to eat my Cinnabun.  Flavor was slowly returning to me and it tasted pretty good.  Ewan checked his watch and I saw the cut on his hand was much better than it should have been.  I pointed to it with my fork.

“You guys heal faster?”

He looked at the cut and worried a bit of loose skin with a finger.  “Yeah.  Normally this would be healed completely by now.”

“Why isn’t it?”

“No blood.  I haven’t eaten for a few days.  I did that on purpose so that when you shot me there wouldn’t be blood gushing everywhere.”

“Thanks.”

“Sure.  Are you done?  We really should get going.”

I glared at him.  “And what if I don’t go with you?  We’re in a crowded mall.  All I have to do is scream.”

Ewan shrugged.  “Have me arrested.  I’ll get out and come for you again.  But I need your help.  And we’re on a clock.”

“I don’t care.  I’m not going with you.  You’re a freak of nature and you’re dangerous.  When the police arrest you and see the holes in you they’ll send you to the government and they’ll experiment on you forever.”

“What holes?”

Ewan pulled back his jacket and lifted up his shirt.  The entrance wound was just a pink circle, like new scar tissue.

“And do you think I couldn’t just kill the cops?  Kill everyone in this mall as I dragged your unconscious body out?  You’re animals to me.  With lives as meaningless to me as cows are to you.”  Ewan stood up and looked down on me.  “Stand up, and don’t cause a scene.”

I stayed put.  Ewan walked around the small table and placed a hand on my shoulder.  He squeezed gently, but I could feel the promise of pain underlying the friendly gesture.  I rose slowly from my chair and his hand slid down my arm to my hand.  We left the mall.

The car ride was dead quiet.  His car made so little noise that our lack of sounds was more painfully obvious.  He didn’t blindfold me or anything, but I didn’t know the area well enough to know where we were or where we might be going.  Ewan was a surprisingly cautious driver.

We pulled into the parking lot of a group of all-brick buildings.  The mutual sign indicated that it was a complex full of private and specialized doctor practices.  He parked on the end of the row of buildings and I read the sign over the door: Dr. Thaddeus Melonakos, MD, PhD, Coroner.

I stayed in the car and Ewan walked around and opened the door.  I ignored his proffered hand as I got out.  He shut the door and headed for the entrance to the building.

“So, is this guy a vampire or a human servant or something?”

Ewan looked at me over his shoulder.  “Human servant?  What the hell?”

“Well, humans have domesticated cattle.  You’re saying vampires haven’t tried to domesticate humans?”

“Grudgingly admitted: humans are smarter than cows.”

“So, you can’t control us with mind tricks?  Or change into anything or control animals?”

“Actually, the vampire community is skeptical of psi abilities.  Well, in our two species anyway.”

“Our two species?”

Ewan didn’t answer me but disappeared inside.  I hurried after him.  The inside was just like any other coroner’s office, which is slightly different from a regular doctor.  There was a reception desk, but no waiting room.  The patients coming to the coroner don’t wait sitting down; they wait lying down in a very cold room.

The receptionist looked up from a magazine as the door jingled at our entrance.  She had blonde hair (from a box), blue eyes, and looked to still be in high school.  She smiled goofily and blushed as she saw Ewan.  She put down the magazine and stood up.  Ewan leaned on the counter and smiled at the girl.  She melted.

I couldn’t quite understand it.  Ewan was just a plain-faced, red-haired, somewhat scrawny guy.  Yeah, he had some muscles and his eyes were spectacular, but he really wasn’t worth blushing over.  Maybe it was because he was older.

“Hi, Naomi.”

“Hi, Evan.”

Evan?

“How is school?”

“Oh, it’s good.  Well, classes kinda suck, but I got a major supporting role in the musical the drama department’s putting on.  We just started rehearsals.  We’ll be putting it on at the end of November.  You could come.”

“I’d love to.  What show are you putting on?”

“Brigadoon.  I play Jean Campbell.”

“Great.  Reserve tickets for Regan and me.  Is Thaddeus here?”

“Yeah, Dr. Melonakos is expecting you.  You can go back.”

“Thanks.  Oh, Naomi, this is Olivia.  Olivia, Naomi.”

I smiled at her and was a bit taken aback by the polite-jealous-I-want-to-rip-your-throat-out smile I got back.  Geez.  She could have him.  I didn’t want him.

Ewan led me to the back of the building and we pushed through very familiar doors into an autopsy bay.  It wasn’t that big of an area, but it was as sophisticated as the Quantico labs.  I could even see the toxscreen equipment through the doors to my left.  There was another set of doors to my right that I assumed led to the morgue.  Two stations were set in the space.  One of them was empty.  The other had a body on the table.  A short, dark-skinned man stood at the foot of the table in a white lab coat.

Dr. Melonakos I presume?

“Thaddeus, I’ve brought her.”

Thaddeus Melonakos looked at me with a raised eyebrow.  That eyebrow was dark with thick, coarse hair.  A few white strands peppered the short, dark hair on his head and his trim mustachio and goatee.  He looked to be toward the far end of his forties and his nose was a little on the large size.  He seemed to be examining me in much the same manner I was examining him.  I looked down at my jeans and T-shirt with a cute, crying bunny on it that said, “You suck, and that’s sad.”  I raised my hand to my hair and felt that it was very mussed up and coming out of its ponytail holder.  I guess I had been looking like this since Ewan and I had had our tussle.  I pulled out the rubber band and began to finger comb my hair.  I was also reminded that my bra still hung loose on my body.

Melonakos didn’t take his eyes off me, but said something in another language.  Ewan shrugged in reply.  I pulled my hair back and put it up in a loose bun.

“Evan says you’re a doctor,” Melonakos said.

Evan again.  “Yes.  My name is Olivia Milligan.  Are you a—”

“She’s here to examine the body,” Ewan interrupted me.

“I gathered that,” the doctor said sourly, “but I still don’t like this.”

“I know and I’m sorry.  But, this is a very sensitive case.  Only FBI personnel can be privy to any evidence.”

Melonakos looked me over again.  “She doesn’t look like an agent.”

“She’s not.  Just support staff.”

I looked at Ewan and he gave me a wink.  Jerk.  Ewan took Melonakos by the arm and began to lead him out of the room.  They spoke in a hushed tone and I couldn’t tell if it was in English or not.  I wandered closer to the body.  It was uncovered and I could tell that it was a white male, early twenties, with no visible signs of trauma or decay.  It had no odor and I wondered just how fresh it was.  I reached out a hand to touch the skin, to see if it was still warm.  I jumped as Ewan grabbed my wrist.  I jerked away from him and he let me go. I tried to cover up my fear by snapping at him.

“What’s going on?  Do those two not know what you are?”

“No, they don’t.”

“So, why am I so lucky?  You know a coroner.  You don’t need me.”

“Well, you see that body there?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s Henry.”

“Garlic Henry?”

“Yeah.”

“So, he’s a vampire.”

“Yep.  So, you see, Thaddeus can’t do the examination.”

“What?  Do you just kidnap random pathologists every time a vampire dies to take care of the body?”

“No.  We take care of our own.  The problem is that Henry _died_.  Someone knew enough about vampires to kill him, but was foolish or crazy enough to leave him where he could be found.  I can’t believe someone in the Underground would do this.”

“The Underground?”

“Stay focused.  Look at him: he’s dead.  And we need to know how he died.  So, we’ll do the whole three birds one stone thing.  You do the autopsy on him and find out how he died.  Then you can also find out how I survived that bullet.  And three, we can get rid of the body without arousing suspicions since a licensed doctor will be examining it.”

“You turned my life upside down for one body?”

“No.  There will be more.  I said I needed your help.  But I didn’t tell you for how long.  This is not a one time thing.  Why do you think I want us to be friends?”

“Oh, you would deign to lower yourself to be friends with an animal?”

“Well, I’m willing to fuck ‘em, might as well talk to ‘em too.”

“We are _not_ fucking.”

“Never crossed my mind.”

“Oh, come on, we look and talk alike.  Vampires can’t really think of humans as just animals.  Can they?”

“Let’s just say that in the Underground I’m notorious for my fetish.”

“Fetish?”

“Bestiality.”

He smiled.  Jerk.  I turned back to the body.

“I need a jacket, gloves, and protective glasses.”

Ewan walked to a corner and sat in a chair.  It looked like a practiced move that had been practiced so much it was completely natural.  He smiled at me from the gloom of the corner, the harsh fluorescent light bearing down on me.

“I believe the supply cabinet is over there,” he said without indicating a direction.

Fine.  If that’s the way Sprite can eyes wanted it, I could play.  I think I was entering the “this is a dream” phase.  So, now I could be myself without having to deal with whether or not this was reality.

After a bit of rummaging, I found a lab coat that was a little small and some latex gloves.  I put on plastic glasses that wrapped around my eyes and an apron made of thick, protective material.  I stood by the body with a tray of clean instruments ready to go.  I guess you start with vampires the same as humans.

I searched over his entire body by hand, checking for bruising, cuts, or needle marks.  I found none.  Nor did I feel anything under the skin from broken bones, lesions, or clots.  The skin itself was pliable, but definitely cold.  Guess I was going to have to open him up.  I picked up a scalpel and looked down at the body.  I hesitated and turned to the shadowed corner.

“Ewan, how old is he?”

“Can’t you tell?”

“Well, I would guess somewhere between 20 and 24, maybe 18 to 22.  But, aren’t vampires supposed to be, like, immortal?”

“You ask me that as you are about to cut open a vampire corpse?”

“So, is that a no?”

“If you can die, you are not immortal.  So, no, vampires are not immortal.”

“But, you stop ageing, right?”

“No, we don’t stop ageing, but it slows down considerably.”

“Define considerably.”

“Well, Henry was born in 1271.  He went on one of the last crusades.  He became a vampire when he was 21.  He looks the same now as he did then except that he’s cut his hair and pierced an ear.”

“You’re talking like he’s still alive.  He’s not going to jump up and yell ‘gotcha’ when I cut into him, is he?”

The shadows were too dark for me to see Ewan’s face clearly, but when he spoke the condescending mirth was gone from his tone.  “I wish he would.”

I wondered if vampires felt the loss of a friend more or less pointedly due to the duration of their friendships.  Ah, well, I didn’t really care.

“So, did you make him?”

“No, I did not.”

“And it won’t bother you to see a friend get cut up?”

“No, it will not.”

I made a face and turned back to the body.  Fine, be all broody and whatnot.  See if I tell him why his friend died.  If I could even figure that out.

I started with the standard Y-incision, which runs just under the collarbones and down the sternum.  The tissues all looked fresh, but there was nearly no blood.  The layer of fat under his skin was a little on the thin side, but one probably wouldn’t build up a lot of fat living on a blood diet.  I made a face as some of the yellow blobs stuck to my glove and then flicked them onto the floor.  The first time I cut open a human body had been in undergraduate school.  One of my lab partners had pointed out how fat was remarkably similar to Corn Pops.  It didn’t really bother me, but another girl had had to switch to Rice Krispies for the rest of the semester.  But, I digress.

I was able to cut though the skin and found my first diversion from human anatomy.  I pulled back his pectoralis major and then what I assumed was his pectoralis minor.  Surprise, surprise, there was a third muscle.  I guess this meant vampires had a pectoralis medius?  Then I had to wonder, if they had more muscles than humans, did that mean that there were four or five muscles in their buttocks?  Then they’d have huge asses.  I tried to smile at the image of Ewan with an overly large butt tottering around the room, but couldn’t quite manage it.  Anyway, that was my first diversion, but it wasn’t the last.

I attempted to cut through the joints of the sternum and was met with more resistance than cartilage should offer.  I worked at it a little bit and then leaned over to get a better look.  Instead of the stained yellowish-red of rib cartilage I expected to find, I saw the duller grey of bone.

“What the—”

I opened up the chest to expose the entire ribcage.  It was much smaller than a human’s should be, and being born in the thirteenth century did not account for it.  The connections between the rib bones that should have been cartilage were hard bone.  The rib bones themselves were a steel grey and unbelievably hard.  I was forced to use a bone saw to cut the top of the rib cage off, and it took quite a bit of pressure on top of the saw to make a cross-section of one of the bones.  Instead of an outer layer of peristeal and an inner layer of endosteal, the outer bone was a matrix of intricately crisscrossing plates of bone, like a bird.  Although, it was strange calling it bone because it wasn’t, but at least it was organic and not an actual metal.  There was a very small column of marrow in the center, though it was much less than humans have.

Interesting.

I managed to remove the top of the rib cage and began to examine the lungs.  They were very small, but extremely convoluted, full of creases and folds like the brain.  I pulled one out and began to spread it apart; it was getting very large.  All that surface area must have allowed for hundreds of times more bronchi and alveoli than humans had, which implied that they could go longer without air and probably had much greater endurance.

“How far can you run before getting winded?” I asked Ewan.

“I can sprint for miles.”

“Can vampires drown?”

He was silent for a moment.  “I’ve never heard of that happening, but I guess it’s plausible.”

As we were talking, I had cut into one of the lungs.  I hitched an eyebrow.

“Was Henry a smoker?”

“Yeah.  Cigarettes affect us too?  He didn’t seem to be in bad shape.”

“Well, tar has coated the primary chamber, but it appears all the folds are completely clean.  How lucky you guys are to be able to smoke and not be affected by it.  I don’t suppose you can get cancer?”

“No, we can’t.  Our genes can’t mutate either naturally or through carcinogens.  Our bodies are precisely regulated.  That’s another reason why we’re so hard to kill.”

I had pulled the lungs out and was looking at his heart.  It was bigger than it should have been for a body this size.  But Ewan’s words were by far more disturbing than the corpse.

“Are you saying you know as much about your own physiology and genetic makeup that humans do?”

“Of course.  Why wouldn’t we?”

I slammed my hands on the table next to the stiff and looked at Ewan in his corner.

“Why on Earth am I here?  You guys have the know how, the technology, and surely the people for this.  Bringing me here is pointless.”

“You don’t listen very well, do you?”

Ewan rose from the chair and moved into the light. The harsh fluorescents softened on him for some reason and made his features more striking somehow.  He stopped on the other side of the examining table from me.

“I told you, Henry’s body was left where you people could find it.  We were lucky we found out about it at all before he got sliced into.”

“But, you’re here as a human.  Don’t you have vampire doctors that could pass for human?”

“Yes, but none in the FBI.  None from the Underground work for any part of the government.  The security clearance is hard to fake.”

I heaved a sigh and balled my hands into fists.  “But why me?”

“I’ll explain that later.  Just tell me how Henry was killed.”

“Why do you think he was killed?  Maybe he just died.”

“Because his murderer left a note.  Now, how was it done?”

“I don’t know!  Your physiology is already so different from humans that I may not be able to recognize an irregularity as such because it’s _all_ irregular to me.  I could try running tox screens for poisons, but how do I know that arsenic isn’t naturally occurring in your bodies?”

“Arsenic kills us.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I growled at him.

He smiled at me like a proud owner whose puppy has learned to piddle on the papers.  “It that a threat?”

“Just a friendly warning.”

“I’ll take that under consideration; now, can you tell me how Henry died?”

I made a noncommittal gesture and continued my investigation.  As I opened up the stomach and abdomen, I found out the mystery of Ewan’s missing organs.  Vampires have no organs.  They have a heart, lungs, and I was assuming a brain, but that was it.  No stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys—nothing.  Only the remnants of the thymus, on top of the heart, were still in place.  And with the presence of bone marrow and the remnants of a thymus, I further assumed that vampires had a functioning immune system.

The esophagus led down to a chamber just below the ribcage.  It appeared to have pumps and valves—much like a second heart—and connected to tissue via large veins and arteries, which in turn spread out to yet more tubing throughout the body.  It was a body designed for a creature that lived off, and only on, blood.

It was actually kind of neat.  But it didn’t explain Ewan’s incredibly fast healing.  I also noted that Henry’s sex organs were intact.  But the strangest thing was that he had an anus and rectum, though there was no colon attached to it and it appeared that vampires weren’t capable of producing solid waste.

“Ewan,” I said as I prodded around the lower half of Henry, “vampire bodies seem to be rid of superfluous organs, so why do you have sex organs?  Aren’t vampires sterile?  And also, why do you still have an anus and rectum if they have no practical use?  And do female vampires have uteruses and—”

“Hang on a minute.  One at a time.  Vampires are created from humans, and the changes made to the body are internal.  Most external structures are retained.  Like, we still have bellybuttons.  So, the breasts on females are there even though they no longer have mammary glands and can’t breastfeed offspring.  Females don’t have sex organs.  The rectum and vagina are technically internal, but for some reason those don’t change.  So, vampires can’t breed and produce more vampires the way humans can.”

“That seems a little unfair that males still have sex organs.”

“Well, females can still have sex and feel sexual pleasure, so I don’t really see the inequality.”

“But do males still produce seminal plasma?”

I looked up at Ewan’s soft laughter.  He was grinning at me.

“Seminal plasma?  That’s the best euphemism I’ve ever heard.”

I made a face at him as I tied off the plastic bag holding Henry’s few organs and tossed it into the hole I’d made in his body.  I went searching for a needle and string.  Though for this kind of work, it’s one mother of a needle.  I only made a few stitches and actually did a pretty shoddy job of putting poor Henry back together, but it wasn’t the medical examiner’s job to make the bodies look good.  That’s what funeral homes were for.  And it wasn’t like he was going to have family see him later.  And then I had to wonder: do vampires get married?

“Yes,” Ewan said, picking up the conversation, “males still produce seminal plasma.”

“And what happens when a vampire lowers himself enough to fuck an animal?” I asked as I placed a rubber stand under Henry’s neck so I could get to his head better.  I picked up a clean scalpel and began to make an incision from ear to ear across the scalp.  Henry was blonde.

“Well, if a human’s egg is fertilized by vampire sperm, the zygote never forms or aborts immediately.”

“Why?”  I noticed that Ewan was not looking at what I was doing.

“Vampires have eleven pairs of chromosomes.  We’re just incompatible.”

“You mean the vampiric changes extend to the genetic level?”

“Of course.”

“Of course,” I mimicked and peeled the scalp back like a banana.

Ewan turned and walked away.  I picked up the bone saw again and gritted my teeth as I applied the saw to the skull.  It was thirty minutes and two breaks later before I was able to remove the top of the corpse’s head.  I needed to examine the brain externally, but my arms were too tired to make the cut down the back of the skull.

“Ewan?  Can you help me?”

He was fiddling with a microscope on a nearby counter.  “Help you with what?”

“I can’t get his brain out like this.  Not without making a mess of it.  I need you to open the back of his head.”

“Do you have to take out his brain?”

“Well, I haven’t found anything anywhere else in his body to explain his death, so it’s either examine the brain or do blood work.  And I’d rather just finish the autopsy now.”

“Okay, you’re the expert.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped away from the table.  I began to set up an area on the counter where I could do my work.  I also scanned the counter and glass-front cabinets for anything I could use to escape.  Acids, poisons, a machete.  I bet vampires would die if you cut their heads off.  But, did Ewan really deserve that?  He technically had offered me no physical harm, but he had taken me somewhere against my will.  That’s kidnapping: a federal crime.  Hell yeah I would cut his head off if I could.

“I’m done.”

I jumped and spun around guiltily, my heart pounding.  Ewan had raised an eyebrow at me, but it didn’t seem like he had read my mind.  Could vampires do that?  I waited to see if he would laugh at my plight or smile knowingly, giving himself away.  He just sighed and leaned on the examining table.  Henry’s brain sat forlornly next to his head.  I didn’t remember hearing the bone saw.

I tried to pull myself together and weighed the brain.  I could tell that whatever was keeping me going—adrenaline, shock, disbelief—was wearing off and I was feeling very tired.  My body was sore, like I had been beaten, and I guess my tussle with Ewan had done more damage than I thought.  I wanted to go home.  And by home I meant to my mommy and daddy.

I mechanically began to examine Henry’s brain.  It was easy to forget where I was and whom I was with because there appeared to be no differences between the human and vampire brain.  Of course, thoughts like that kept bringing me back.

“Ewan, I just thought of something.  Henry’s body seemed really dried out.  How long can you guys go without feeding?  Maybe someone kept him prisoner and starved him to death.”

“I don’t think so.  We can go months without feeding because we still produce our own blood, albeit in small quantities.  We used to travel on ships around the world and we weren’t stupid enough to feed off the passengers in a secluded area.  Although, I suspect we could starve to death after a few years.  But, I saw Henry last Friday night.”

I made a face as I barely caught part of his brain with my hand as I cut it longitudinally in half.  To distract Ewan—who had turned to look back at what I was doing—I asked, “When did he die?”

“Aren’t you supposed to tell me that?”

I turned my head to him, rolling my eyes.  “Look, I don’t know what you’ve seen on TV, but it is virtually impossible to pinpoint a time of death without an eyewitness.  I can tell you that he died some time between the last time someone saw him alive and now.  How’s that?”

“We could do that centuries ago,” the vampire said dryly.

“Well, there isn’t any evidence of insect infestation, which is the best and most accurate way we have of determining time of death.  So, can you give me a vague idea?”

“Well, the last person who saw him alive was on Tuesday.  So, sometime between late Tuesday night and now.”

I looked back at the body.  He kinda still looked alive, minus the hole in his head.  If someone had seen him alive Tuesday night, and today was Thursday afternoon…it hadn’t been forty-eight hours quite yet.  I put down the brain and picked up the body’s hand.  It was completely pliable and moved with my touch.  I glanced down the length of his body and realized that I hadn’t been doing that careful of an examination if I hadn’t even noticed that his body wasn’t discolored at all.

“Has he been exposed to heat or cold?”

“Just the conditions in the hotel room, which I assume were normal.  He was brought from there straight here.  No time in a morgue.”

“Ewan, something’s wrong here.”

“What?” he asked, sounding disinterested.

“He’s not displaying any signs of livor mortis or rigor mortis.  If he’s been dead around thirty-six hours…he should still be stiff.  And if he’s been lying on his back, the blood should have pooled to his back and sides and blanched from his shoulders and buttocks.  Even you can tell that none of those things have happened.”

Ewan shifted on his feet and I put Henry’s hand down.  If it had been slightly warmer I would have sworn he was still alive.

“So?”

I turned to look at him.  “So?  That’s it.  He’s so atypically dead.  What can I possibly tell you?  He doesn’t look dead at all.  Why hasn’t he acted like a dead person?”

“Well, what causes rigor mortis?”

“Lactic acid build up.”

“Lactic acid…lactic acid…” he trailed off and looked questioningly at me.

“The stuff that you produce during hard exercise.”

“Ah, yes.  Makes your muscles hurt, right?”

I shook my head.  “Common misconception.  It’s actually helping.”

“Oh.  Well, what’s it made from?”

“Lactate, though it’s more complicated than that.  But,” I continued on, mostly to myself, “you guys don’t have lactate in your systems or glucose, glycogen, or anything for that matter.  So, maybe you don’t produce any at all.  But if you don’t have glucose, how on earth do you make ATP and have the energy required to move at all?”

“Um, I—”

“Oh, I’m not seriously asking you.  Like you would know.”

He looked like he was going to argue, so I turned away and messed with the brain again.  If Henry wasn’t dead before, I had made sure that he was.  Try not to think about it.  Ewan said he was already dead.  I frowned and wanted to say something that would get me out of here.

“Maybe he committed suicide,” I mumbled.

“No, Henry wouldn’t do that.  Besides, I told you his killer left a note.  Again, not listening very well, were we?”

I didn’t respond to Ewan’s snide comment because I had figured out why Henry had died.

“His heart stopped.”

“What?” Ewan asked sharply.

“His heart stopped.  He stopped breathing.  That’s how Henry died.”

Ewan crossed the room and stood beside me, looking down at the brain.  “How?  Show me.”

We were looking at the brain from the ventral side.  I wondered if I could explain it to a layman.  I took off the goggles and pointed at the caudal end of the brain.

“See, here is his brainstem and cerebellum; they are both intact.  And here is the fourth ventricle, which is attached to the third ventricle via the cerebral aqueduct.  They’re normal.  The hippocampus and thalamus are okay, and the pituitary gland and optic chiasm are where they should be.”

“Are you giving me an anatomy lesson or what?”

I looked sidelong at the irritant.  “It wouldn’t hurt for you to know some of the important structures of the brain.”

“Olivia, just tell me how he died.” He paused and then made a pained face.  “Please.”

I stuck my finger in the soft tissue of Henry’s brain.  “Do you see that?”

“See what?”

“These burn marks.”

Ewan leaned in close.  “Uh, no.  Oh, wait.  Geez.  It looks like it’s been cut with a laser.”

“Uh-huh, and it looks like something was either cut out or disintegrated.”

“What?”

“His hypothalamus.  I have no idea how someone could get inside his brain without leaving any marks, but without a hypothalamus to control his autonomic nervous system, he died.”

“Maybe Henry stayed alive long enough to heal.”

“Can you do that?  I mean, without this part of his brain he immediately stopped breathing and his heart stopped.  How long can you guys go without a beating heart?”

“We can survive if we are resuscitated after a few hours, but healing is very slow in a body without moving blood.”

“Well, then that’s all I can tell you.  He’s dead because he doesn’t have a hypothalamus.  How he doesn’t have it is a mystery.”

“That’s all right.  At least now we have a starting point.”

Ewan turned to me and met my eyes.  I tried to look away, but the best I could do was blink against the intensity of his gaze.  He took a step toward me, placing himself just close enough so that without even touching me I could feel him down the length of my body.

“Olivia, thank you.  Really.  I realize this must be very difficult for you, but I am grateful for your help.”

I swallowed.  “Is this the part when you kill me now that my usefulness is gone?”

Ewan smiled and raised a hand to push a loose wisp of hair behind my ear.  “Are you scared of dying?”

“I’m scared of the manner in which I may die, not death.”

“But a vampire bite?”  He was whispering now.  “What a way to go.”

I felt a strange static around my body, and it was not unpleasant.  I took in a slow breath and kept my eyes locked with his.  “Is that part true?”

He tilted his head in question.

“The feeding being like sex part.”

He shrugged eloquently.  “Well, the sudden surge of fresh, hot blood often goes to our lower extremities first.  So, yeah, sometimes we get off on it.  But I don’t know how the prey feel.”

Being called prey should have broken the spell, or whatever was keeping me immobile.  But I was still standing there like an idiot, letting the vampire run a soft hand on my back.  And I knew it was soft because he had slipped his arm inside the lab coat and his hand under my shirt.  His fingers fiddled with my broken bra clasp.

“Sorry about this,” he said with a soft laugh.

I frowned up at him.  “I thought you said not every male/female relationship had to be romantic.”

He smiled at me and flattened his hand against my back, pressing us together.  I had to tilt my head almost all the way back in order to keep looking at him.  I couldn’t break eye contact.  I physically couldn’t do it.  I felt the fear that I had locked away earlier come seeping out.  I could feel myself grow cold, and I knew without a doubt that Ewan knew exactly what was going on in my body.

“Et-hmm.”

My head snapped to the door; I was so grateful for the interruption.  But only for a moment.  Naomi stood at the entrance to the autopsy bay and I could practically see my slow, agonizing death in her eyes.  Ewan had removed his hand from my back and turned to the door, but we were still touching down one side.

“Naomi, has Thaddeus contacted the transporters?”

Naomi struggled to take her eyes off me and her expression softened somewhat when she looked at Ewan.  “Yes.  He said they were on their way.”

“Thank you.  Olivia and I will be out when we’re finished in here.”

His voice sounded friendly enough, but it had a cold, mocking quality.  For though he meant when we were finished with the corpse, that statement could have easily meant when we were finished with each other.

Naomi almost got out a smile and disappeared back through the doors.  I stepped away from Ewan and began to look around for something in which to store the brain.  We couldn’t very well stick it back in poor Henry’s head, now could we?  It was evidence.  But evidence of what?  Had this been a human, saying his brain had been lasered from the inside just wouldn’t stand up in a court of law.  I wondered if vampires had their own law system.

“How do you plan to get the body out of here?”

“An EMT will come to take it to the FBI Norfolk field office.”

I raised my eyebrows.  “Really?”

“Well, people will come to take the body and that’s what I’ll tell Thaddeus.”

“And why would he think the FBI had anything to do with this?  Aside from me being here.”

“Because he thinks I’m in the FBI.”

“And why does he think that?”

“Because I lied to him.”

“And have you lied to me today?”

“At least once.”

He smiled.  Jerk.

Half an hour later the body was on its way to God knows where and the two men who had retrieved it had looked at me with a great deal of interest.  Ewan and I were in his car on the way back to the mall before I could ask him about it.  It was growing dark outside, being nearly six o’clock by the time we left a ruffled Dr. Melonakos and a bitter Naomi.

“Were those two guys vampires?” I asked while looking out my window.

“One of them was.”

I was getting tired of Ewan saying things that always made me look at him.

“Which one?”

“The blonde.”

That made sense.  The blonde had been a little on the short side, but absolutely ripped.  He had a movie star vampire face: incredibly handsome with high, sculpted cheekbones and very pale.  He had actually looked like what I think—thought—a vampire should look like.  Not a red-haired little pixie-boy.  The other had been tall (almost too tall) and very willowy.  I could have seen him as the old fashioned, creepy type vampire that slinks around in old, drafty castles.  But, Ewan had said he wasn’t a vampire.

“What was the tall one?”

“What do you mean?” he asked as he slowed down for pedestrians in front of the entrance to the mall.

“You said only the blonde was a vampire.  What was the tall one?”

“I’ll let you know if there ever comes a time when you need to know.”

The mall parking lot was pretty crowded for a Thursday night and Ewan didn’t bother to find a parking space; he just pulled up behind my car.  I was starting to feel nauseous and when I spoke my voice sounded like it was coming from out of a far away tunnel.

“And why can’t I know now?”

“Because you said you didn’t want to deal with us.  If you never get involved in our world, you don’t need to know about us.”

I put my hand to my head as a splitting line of pain began to bounce back and forth between my temples.  At least it had made me forget my nausea.

“You said you weren’t through with me.  Are you letting me go?”

“I’m not _letting_ you go.  Olivia, are you okay?”

My stomach suddenly turned and reminded me that it wasn’t happy either.  I pulled off my seatbelt and opened the car door in one movement.  I pushed hard on the door in my haste to get out and hit the back of my car with it.  Then I spilled out onto my knees and vomited.

And then I felt much better.  The chill night air was cooling my face and my headache had subsided.  I sat back against the car and wiped the corner of my mouth with the back of my wrist.

“Can you drive?”

I turned and looked inside the car.  Ewan was still buckled in place, showing very little concern about my condition.  I suddenly wished I’d puked _in_ his car.  I turned away from him and stared at a broken taillight on my poor little blue Honda.  It hadn’t been like that when I left it this afternoon.

“Do you remember what happened to the papers I was holding when you met me?”

“Well, unless you put them in your car when you went for your gun, I don’t know.”

I sighed.  “They had the address of the person I’m staying with.”

“I’ll take you there.  Follow me in your car.”

“How do you know where to go?”

“You’re staying with Danica Springs, right?  I know where she lives.”

I must have reached my quota for surprise for the day because I just nodded and stood up.  I turned to shut the door and looked in at him.  His eyes were soft and angelic, shining bright green even in the dark.  And I allowed myself to be fooled into thinking that he was harmless.

“Why did they look at me weird?  The two faux EMTs.”

“Because of who you are.”

“Who am I?”

“Dr. Olivia Mae Milligan.”

I nodded and shut the door.  My car was so familiar when I got in that it seemed unfamiliar considering the day I’d had.  I don’t remember much about the drive to Danica’s house.  I just know that Ewan pulled up next to the curb and I pulled into the driveway.  Then he drove away and I saw his taillights fade into the dark.

Well, okay.


	7. Shannon

Ewan was waiting for me the next morning.

When I had arrived at the Springs’ house last night, I was definitely looking like an assault victim.  And the sixteen-year-old boy that had greeted me at the door had made a decent effort at hiding that fact.  He had been so polite, inviting me in and taking my small suitcase from me.  He had introduced himself as ElliotSprings.  I had been a little confused, but Elliot had seemed to be expecting me and addressed me by name, so I had merely shrugged and went along with it.

He had taken me straight upstairs and showed me to my room, telling me they would be eating dinner when his dad got home.  He had left me then and I had wanted nothing more than to fall onto the bed and go to sleep, but I had forced myself to clean up so I would be presentable.

Twenty minutes later I had been sitting at the family dinner table with a typical American family.  Well, nowadays the stepmom scenario is becoming more typical.  And that’s just what Danica was.  She was married to a wealthy businessman ten years her senior and stepmother to a sixteen-year-old, a twelve-year-old, and an eight-year-old.  Fortunately the children seemed to like Danica so there had not been an uncomfortable atmosphere at the table.  In fact, the youngest one even called Danica “mom.”

I had done my best to be polite and act like I had had the day off from work rather than being kidnapped and forced to cut open vampire bodies.  I also made up a story about getting lost in the area, which would explain my somewhat late arrival.  I must have been pretty good; I didn’t get any weird looks.  After dinner they had let me go to bed and I had barely crawled under the covers before I was out.

That morning Danica had woken me up at 7:00 on her way to work.  She had offered to meet me for lunch, but I had politely declined, saying that I might get lost again on my way to meet her and end up wasting her time.  Surprise, surprise, she didn’t argue with me, but left with a small, satisfied smile.  And after I had managed to drag myself out of bed and take a shower, Ewan was waiting for me on the bed.

I was so startled I nearly dropped the towel covering me, and so, when I went to grab it with both my hands, the towel on my head fell off.  And Ewan just sat there looking at me, as my wet hair fell on my shoulders and my hands clutched the pink towel to my chest.  It was a really short towel and barely covered my bottom.  Ewan didn’t seem phased in the least by my appearance.  He just blinked nonchalantly at me.  I was glad I had already put deodorant on because I was suddenly very nervous.

“You can get dressed if you want.”

My suitcase was on the other side of the bed and would require me to walk right by him.  But, I didn’t feel like backing into the bathroom to retrieve my pajamas, so I just stood there like an idiot.  Ewan shrugged.

“Okay.  Well, I guess you don’t have to get dressed now, but you will eventually.  I’m going to show you to your new apartment.”

He turned toward me and I could actually see him slowly lower his eyes down, and then raise them even slower as he looked at me.  He finally met my eyes and I shivered from the cold air hitting the water on my body.  Ewan gave a little half smile.

“That wasn’t for you,” I blurted out.  “I shivered because I’m cold.”

Ewan’s half smile became a full smile.  “Don’t worry, Olivia, I’m not trying to get into your towel.  But you shouldn’t be embarrassed; I’ve seen it all before.  In all kinds of shapes, colors, and sizes.”

“Well, you haven’t seen _mine_.  And besides, I don’t believe you.  No matter how long you’ve been alive, you still look the way you do now.”

Ewan gave a small laugh.  “Are you saying I’m not attractive?”  He leaned back on his elbows and his tight shirt pulled across his body.  The shirt said something, but I couldn’t read it because I was staring at the muscles rippling through the thin, white fabric.  The shirt ended just as his tight jeans started, and those looked like they had been fitted perfectly to his rather promising lower half.  I looked back up at his face, which was really nothing special except for those beautiful eyes.  But it was the orangey hair that allowed me to pull myself together and shrug.

“Whatever,” I said, careful not to answer his question, “I still don’t think you’ve been able to get whomever you wanted into bed.  Unless, of course, you raped them.”

“Hurt and offended, Olivia.  Every person who has ever been in my arms has been there by choice.”

“Every _person_?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ewan shrugged.  “Live a long time and you get bored.  You need to experiment.  Hell, I actually got sick of it once and didn’t have sex for a century.”

“How old are you?”

“Come on, Olivia,” he said, standing up, “you’ve got to get dressed.”

He moved around the bed to my suitcase and opened it up.  I stood cold and awkward as the vampire rustled through my clothes.  He tossed a pair of jeans and a red T-shirt on the bed.  Then he stood up with a matching set of black panties and bra dangling from his fingers.  He motioned me to him with a finger, and I marched over with the intent of snatching my unmentionables from his hands.  He grabbed my outstretched arm and spun me around onto the bed.  I didn’t fight him because I was trying to keep the towel wrapped around my body.  I hit the mattress on my back and looked to the end of the bed to see Ewan kneeling with one leg on the bed beside mine.

I found myself unable to move as I watched him.  He lifted my ankles, slipping my underwear over my feet.  He slid his hands up my legs, slowly, casually.  I wished I hadn’t shaved that morning because the feeling of his soft hands on my smooth legs was incredible.  The kind of incredible that you’re taught is supposed to be wrong.  He leaned forward as he pulled my underwear up to the edge of the towel.  Without thinking, I raised my hips off the bed and allowed him to get the black satin in place.  Then he pulled gently on one of my arms to sit me up and picked up the bra.  He allowed me to hold the towel with one hand as he ran a strap slowly up my arm.  Then we did the other arm.  He leaned forward to work on the fastenings and I used the relative privacy to drop the towel and fit the fabric over my breasts.  Ewan even knew to use the second row of snaps.

I finally felt like something was wrong when he pulled the towel away from me and I sat on the on the bed in only my underwear.  Odd that that felt weird, but Ewan either didn’t notice my discomfort or didn’t care.  He applied slight pressure to one of my shoulders and I lay back down.  Then he used the same gentle torture as he had earlier to slide my jeans up my legs.  And once again I helped him get them all the way on.  He met my eyes as he buttoned the top and then agonizingly slowly zipped them: the teeth closing one at a time.  Ewan got me to sit up again and picked up my shirt.  He looked at me until I raised my arms over my head and then he put on the T-shirt.  He pulled on the fabric to straighten it and smiled as he read the message: It _is_ as bad as you think and they _are_ out to get you.

Then he moved away from me and I was left staring at myself in the mirror.  That had been so weird.  I’d never been _dressed_ by a man before.  Well, at least not since my father had done it when I was a very small child.  I stiffened as Ewan returned and sat next to me on the bed.  He began to gently brush through my drying hair.  And here I thought things couldn’t get any weirder.  I sat back with my hands in my lap, staring at the floor.  And the vampire brushed my hair.

We both remained silent until after Ewan was done with my hair and had thrown a pair of sandals at my feet.  Then he said, “Let’s go.”

I looked up at him, not prepared to argue with him.  But, I wasn’t ready to put myself in his hands again, so I stalled by going into the bathroom, mumbling about make-up.  I shut the door behind me and braced myself on the sink.  I could feel myself shaking.  I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to get back to reality.  There wasn’t a vampire in the next room; vampires aren’t real.  I tried to ignore the images from last night that kept flashing through my head: the gunshot, the knife wound, the corpse.

I opened my eyes and looked into the medicine cabinet mirror.  The top was still fogged from my shower.  I began to apply foundation just to give my hands something to do besides grip the porcelain sink.  I don’t usually wear a lot of a make-up, but I found myself applying blush, eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick.  I was stalling.  So, I stalled longer by taking a tissue and smoothing most of it off.  There were no calls from the bedroom and no knocking at the door.  Maybe I was imagining things.  I mean, how could he have gotten into Danica’s house?  I stopped my mind from going through a plausible list of options, but still managed to see the Springs family slaughtered over their breakfast.

I grabbed the doorknob to the bedroom, anger flaring inside me.  This was ridiculous.  What was I doing?  There was no one on the other side of this door.  I was simply hallucinating and I should go to a shrink right now while I was still in a moment of clarity.  I flung open the door and jumped as it hit the wall.

“Ready to go?” asked Ewan.

I sighed.  “Yeah, I’m ready.”

 

We took Ewan’s car and today he drove much faster and with little caution.  I was gripping the door with one hand and my seatbelt with the other.  There was a small smile on his face as we slung around corners and reached 65 miles per hour within city limits.  His eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses, so I couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose to scare me, or if this was the way he always drove.  I started a conversation just to get my mind off my impending death or arrest.

“How did you get inside this morning?” I asked and winced as he ran a red light.  A horn blared.

“The door.  Danica left it unlocked because you were still in the house.  You did lock it after we left, right?”

I tried to think back to remember if I had locked the door.

“Don’t worry,” said Ewan, “I locked it.”

“But how did you get in?  You don’t need an invitation, I guess.”

“Actually, I’ve been invited inside there before.  I know Danica.”

I was shaken part way out of my fear of the car ride.  Ewan and Danica knew each other?  Was I being played?  Was Douglas in on this too?

“Did Director Douglas send me down here to meet you?  Are you some kind of government experiment gone horribly wrong?”

“Do you mean Jeffrey Douglas, director of the FBI?  I’ve never met him.”

His head was still facing the road, but I could tell he was looking at me sidelong from behind the sunglasses.

“And how do you know I’m not an experiment that went horribly right?  If you keep putting me down like this, Olivia, I may start to doubt my sex appeal.”

I rolled my eyes.  “No man has that problem.”

“Anyway, you coming down here is purely coincidental.”

“Then why does it feel so contrived?”

Ewan ignored my question.  “Danica doesn’t know I’m a vampire.”

“Danica doesn’t know.  Dr. Melonakos doesn’t know.  Naomi doesn’t know.  Why am I so lucky?”

“Because you need to know and they don’t.  I can’t very well ask you to solve a string of vampire murders if you don’t know the victims are vampires and the murderer is not human.”

“Maybe I don’t want to solve it.  Good riddance if you ask me.”

“I didn’t.”

I crossed my arms over my chest in a huff, but had to sling them back out to grab the side of the car as Ewan hung a very sharp left onto a private drive.  I looked to my left and saw that my hand was gripping Ewan’s thigh.  I snatched it back.  Ewan was grinning.  Vampire or human, men were assholes.

We wound around on the newly paved road through a somewhat densely wooded forest.  After a while the woods opened up to a large, wrought iron gate attached to eggshell white stucco walls.  The walls were at least eight feet high and there was a gatehouse just in front of the entrance.  Ewan pulled up next to the tiny structure and rolled down his window.  An elderly man with a round, smiling face and balding head beamed at us from his post.  He greeted Ewan with a boisterous “hello,” and peered at me through the window.

“Hey there, Ewan, my boy.  That’s quite a pretty lady you got there.  I hope he’s treating you like one.”

I think I managed to smile back and found myself liking the man instantly.  Ewan bobbed his head in agreement.

“Don’t worry, Bob.  Nothing improper going on here.  This is Olivia Milligan.  She’s a doctor.  She’s going to be looking at one of the empty apartments and probably will be moving in.”

I knew that “probably” was “definitely” in _his_ mind.

Bob grinned.  “Well, that’s just terrific.  This place could use a little class.  Mostly full of young bachelors.  Could use a little feminine charm.”

I tried to smile again.  Bob looked at us a moment and then Ewan cleared his throat.  Bob gathered himself together and threw his arms in the air.  He started rambling about how if his head weren’t attached and various other clichés before managing to find the control to the gate.  It retracted into the wall and Ewan drove through.  I looked in the side view mirror nervously and saw the gate slide home behind us.  I was trapped inside a cage with what I assumed was an apartment complex full of vampires.  It was nice though.  Professionally landscaped, tennis courts, a swimming pool, what looked like a fishing pond down one path.  We were heading toward a covered parking garage.

“Does Bob know?” I asked.

“Know what?”

“What you are.”

“No, he doesn’t.”

I sighed in exasperation.  “Does _anyone_ know?”

“Almost every single person living here.”

“Is everyone living here a vampire?”

“No, there are various—things here.  There’s even one human.  We thought it would be good to have an actual human running around, but it turns out he’s weirder than the rest of us.”

Ewan pulled into a parking space on the first level of the two-story garage and turned the engine off.  We sat in the dark car in silence.  I suddenly wished to be outside in the sun and confined within only one cage with a vampire rather than within two.  Ewan played with the key to his car for a moment and then heaved a sigh.

“I’m sorry, Olivia.  I don’t see any way around it.  You’re going to have to meet Shannon today.  I had hoped to ease you into all this, and meeting Shannon is definitely—a shock.”

“Well, great.  Thanks for improving the quality of my life with your friendship.”

Ewan shrugged.  “Don’t mention it.  And just think, this is when we’re friends.  Just imagine if we became intimately involved.”

He gave me a wink and then slid out of the car.  Now I wanted to stay in the dark space.  The whole “because I can’t see you, you can’t see me” bit.  I felt the car shift as Ewan sat on the hood.  He was waiting for me, but I knew it wasn’t because he was being kind and understanding.  He didn’t want to go in either.  This made me very curious about “Shannon.”

Finally, I took off my seatbelt, which made me realize Ewan hadn’t been wearing his, and opened the car door.  Outside and glaring in at me was a dog with fur on end and teeth bared as it growled at me.  Granted, it was only a Chihuahua, but those things are vicious.  It gave a sharp bark and I started.  Laughter cracked through the parking garage and got louder with the echoes.  I looked up and saw a woman approaching me.  She was short, only a couple inches over five feet, with long, thick black hair and dark eyes.  Her skin was a dark tan, and there was definitely more of it showing than there was clothes on her body.  It wasn’t warm enough that I would want to go swimming.  She stopped about five paces away and the dog bounded back to her.  The woman picked up the dog and gave it a kiss on its doggy lips.  When she spoke, her voice had a thick Mexican accent.

“Well, well.  So you solve de mystery.  You better hope you do or we will take your payment out of your flesh.”

Nice.  Just what I needed now.  I assumed this woman to be Shannon, but I stayed put in the car.  Ewan came into my line of view and leaned on the car door.  The woman looked over at him and shifted the dog in her arms causing her ample bosom to be put on even greater display than the small, black bikini top was already doing.  She had done it for Ewan.  I didn’t get it.  What was so hot about him?  My attention went back to her as she said something in Spanish.  Ewan answered in English.

“Yes, this is she.”

“She don’t look like much.”

Ewan shrugged.  “That remains to be seen.”

“I think we should just hold her hostage.  Or change her.”

“Well, that’s why we don’t let you think.  Come on, Olivia.  We need to get going.”

I got cautiously out of the car and Ewan shut the door.  I was trying to keep my eyes on the woman, but I couldn’t help but notice the rows of shiny, expensive cars lining the garage.  Not one clunker in the place. Not one sensible sedan or family minivan.  I stiffened as Ewan placed a hand on the small of my back and led me away.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw the woman’s eyes flash with anger.  For some reason, Ewan seemed to enjoy using me to make other women jealous.  Which I thought might actually be harmful to my well-being.  I consciously moved away from his touch and he dropped his arm to his side.  I squinted as we came out of the parking lot and into the bright, heatless sun.  I shivered.  There was no wind, no birds singing, no voices talking.  It was too quiet.  I had to make noise.

“So, that was Shannon, huh?”

“God, I wish she was,” laughed Ewan.  “No, that was Rosa.”

Great.  I hadn’t even met the shocking person yet.  I wanted to be somewhere else so badly, and yet before I knew it I was in a large, luxurious building and trapped in an elevator with Ewan.

“Shannon lives on the ninth floor, but in an end unit, so that no one gets disturbed with the noise.  The only apartments available right now are the ones above and below Shannon.  You can have your pick.  But, my guess is that the apartment above would be quieter.”

Terrific.  “Well, who lives in the one apartment next to her?”

Ewan made a face.  “I do.”

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. I looked up at the six and a half foot tall man standing in the opening.  At least, I thought it was a man.  His body was slender, muscular, and induced immediate fantasies involving it and leather.  He was unfortunately not wearing any leather, just jeans and a T-shirt, but it was still real nice from my point of view.  His fine, golden-colored hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but I couldn’t tell how long it was from where I was standing.  His skin was tan enough that the color of his hair complemented him perfectly, and he somehow managed not to look like a surfer boy.  And his face—it was that kind of beauty that only men can have.  It had hard, long lines, but soft angles.  His eyes were a strange variation of hazel.  Not really hazel at all, but a mix of brown and green with red flecks.  He was gorgeous.  To fall back on an old cliché, it was like standing before Adonis.  But comparing him to Adonis might actually be an insult to this man.

I blinked my eyes and turned to look at Ewan as I realized all three of us had been standing there for a few long moments without speaking.  Ewan’s arms were crossed over his chest and the lines of his body and face had become closed and hostile.  He clearly was not happy with the person we had run into.  The man spoke first, and his voice was deeper than I expected.

“Ewan, why don’t you two come to my apartment so we can talk first, then you can show her to her apartment.”  He looked at me.  “I hope you don’t mind getting right down to business, but I have something to attend to later.”

I kind of nodded, glassy-eyed, and was very glad my skin didn’t betray my blush because one had crept up to my cheeks when he had mentioned “getting right down to business.”  I shook myself and tried rather belatedly to act nonchalant.  “Whatever.  I’m not living here anyway.”

The man smiled and my heart leapt against my ribcage.  Damn was he beautiful.  Damn it all if he didn’t know it.

“You may change your mind by the end of the day.”

I wanted to roll my eyes or throw a clever retort back at him, but I remained silent and still.  Ewan still hadn’t spoken or moved.  The elevator dinged and the doors began to slide shut.  Ewan stuck a hand out and stopped the doors.  He waved an arm to gesture me through and I began to follow the man down the hallway.  I was able to see that his ponytail was thicker than I had thought originally and fell all the way to the small of his back.  It shined in the soft, white lights of the hall and was completely free of split ends and fly-aways.  He could have been in a shampoo commercial, and I wondered briefly if I _had_ seen him in a shampoo commercial.  His ass was sensational.

We walked to the end of the hall and went into the apartment numbered 904.  Ewan was behind me, and I could practically feel the tension radiating off his body.  This made me very nervous about golden boy and I hung back to be closer to Ewan.  Better the monster you know…

The apartment was huge and very nicely furnished.  The main room of the apartment had several doors branching off it and the big, open kitchen was separated by a counter in one corner.  Large, door-length windows made up almost the whole back wall and looked out on a decently sized lake that sparkled in the mid-morning September sun.  The entire room was filled with sunlight and everything appeared brighter because it was all in white and primary colors.  The man stopped in his kitchen.

“Would you like something to drink?”

I started to say no, but my mouth was so dry I had difficulty speaking.  “Water, please.”

“Bottled or tap?”

“Tap is fine.”

“Ice or no ice?”

“Ice please.”

“You got it.  Ewan?”

“You know what I like.”

I expected them to smile or share a laugh.  They didn’t.  The man just got some glasses out of a cabinet and told us to have a seat.  I was going to sit on the comfortable-looking, white leather couch, but Ewan walked over to a table and chairs and pulled out a seat for me.  I took the hint and sat there instead.  Ewan remained standing and the man came over with three glasses in his hands.  One was filled with ice water, which he set in front of me.  One held a dark red substance that had steam coming off the top.  I spent a little too much time around blood to know that it wasn’t V8 juice.  That glass went in front of Ewan.  The man sat across the table from me with a glass full of what I could only guess was orange juice, but who knew if he hadn’t spiked it.  He took a sip and smiled at me uneasily.  He glanced up at Ewan and Sprite can eyes ignored him.  Actually turned his back to the beautiful man.  The man looked back at me.

“Won’t you join us, Ewan?”

Ewan did nothing.

“Sit down, Ewan.”

Ewan sat.  Interesting.

I took a sip of my water and watched the two men.  Ewan sat with his hands in his lap and glared at the cooling glass of blood.  Either he wasn’t hungry or he didn’t like an audience when he drank.  Which I was truly grateful for because I wasn’t sure if I could handle watching Ewan down the stuff right in front of me.  It was disturbing enough to have a glass of blood on the table at all.  And I had to wonder where it came from.  Or _whom_ it came from.

“You really should eat, Ewan.  You look pale.”

I looked at Ewan and thought he looked fine.  Color-wise anyway.  He was scowling and pouting his lip out like a petulant child.

“I’m not hungry,” he groused.

The man reached out a hand and smoothed it down Ewan’s cheek.  Ewan’s jaw clenched, but he did not move away from the touch.

“You feel cold.  You should drink.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Drink, Ewan.”

Ewan picked up the glass and began to chug.  I stared in amazement.  Not from the blood chugging—though that was rather appalling—but at the sudden change of personality.  Ewan had gone from being a cool, calm smart-ass to an ill-tempered, moody child.  And it had only happened twice, but I was already well aware that Ewan seemed to disobey everything the man told him to do unless it was a direct order.

I jumped as Ewan slammed the glass back on the table.  He was glowering at the red-coated glass like he could kill it.  Or maybe he was imagining killing the golden beauty sitting next to him.  He hadn’t spilled a drop though.  Very clean.

“When are you going to grow up?  You’ve probably disgusted Olivia.”

“You shouldn’t have brought it out in the first place,” Ewan snapped.  “She only found out about us yesterday.  She’s not ready for all this.”

“She seems fine to me.”

Ewan glanced up at me and his features softened a little.  Maybe I didn’t look disgusted.  But I sure felt it.  Was the shock only just _now_ setting in?  Or had I suddenly come to grips with all of this so soon?  I really hoped it was the former.  A movement across the table made me look at the man.  He had settled back in his chair, sipping his orange juice.  Ewan seemed to have gotten over his temper tantrum and sat in his chair calmly, eyes averted from the bloody glass.  It was silent for many long minutes.

“Ewan, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

There came that lip again, pouting out defiantly.  Ewan really had a grudge against this guy.  I wondered if he had stolen his girlfriend.  And then I wondered, depending on how old they were, maybe he’d stolen more than one girlfriend.  But, perhaps this man wasn’t a vampire.  He wasn’t drinking blood, and from what I had learned of vampire anatomy, I couldn’t imagine them being able to ingest anything else.  Ewan had said that they drink water sometimes to dilute the blood to help it last longer during dry spells in their feeding.  Or even to alleviate low blood pressure when their plasma levels dropped.  Too bad it didn’t work that way in humans.

“I apologize for his behavior.  He always gets this way—around me.”

“Did you steal his girlfriend?”

I had meant the comment to be lighthearted, but should have known better than to just throw out lines like that when two complete strangers to me clearly had such a long history together.  The man smiled and I had to look away from his perfection.

“You could say that,” he said.  “I stole his girlfriend from him.  Along with a great many other things.”

The man glanced at Ewan, but he wouldn’t rise to the bait.  Goldilocks turned his attention back to me.

“You are Dr. Olivia Mae Milligan, correct?”

“Yeah,” I said and wondered why they found my middle name so fascinating.  I’d never really been fond of it.  I tapped my fingernails on the side of my glass and contemplated if I was supposed to know who the man was.  But I didn’t have a clue.

“I have many names, but only a couple that I consider my own.”

I squirmed a little.  The devil was one such fellow who had many names.  The man grinned at my discomfort.

“What are you thinking, Olivia?  That Lucifer is one of my names?  I can assure you it is not.  But, all the same, I bet you’re wondering where that blood came from.  Wondering if I don’t have some poor teenaged, blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl tied up by her own pink tank top in my closet.”

I heard a strange sound that was too loud in the peaceful room.  I realized it was the legs of my chair scraping over the polished wood floor.  I had moved my chair back without even realizing it.  I was still seated, but ready to run screaming through the glass windows to my left if I needed to.  I glanced at all the doors that branched from the room and wondered which was the closet.  The man seemed to bask in my anxiousness and fear.

“Leave her alone, Shannon,” Ewan growled.  “You needn’t worry, Olivia.  He doesn’t have a girl tied up in here.”

“How do you know?” I asked autonomously, not really due to any coherent thoughts.

“It didn’t—taste like a girl.  In fact, it wasn’t even human.”

I felt my heart calm a little bit and it was only then that I became aware that it had been racing.  I forced myself to take in even, deep breaths and willed myself to ignore the lightheadedness and not pass out.  It seemed to work.  I calmed down enough to be attentive to the conversation again.

Shannon, and I was now aware that that was who this man was, was grinning ear to ear, pleased as punch with himself.  “You know, I still can’t decide if humans are amusing or annoying.”

“They’re usually both,” Ewan said grumpily.  He slouched in his chair and I could now see why he hadn’t wanted me to meet Shannon on the first, well, second day of my “initiation.”

Shannon’s smile softened and it became less aggravating and frightening and more seductive and welcoming.  I was back to having improper thoughts about him and already forgetting that he had made a very unfunny joke at my expense.

“Well, I must introduce myself then.  Like I said, I have many names, but Ewan has apparently chosen for you to know me as ‘Shannon,’ so that is who I am.  I am Shannon.  I walk the line between the dark and the light and am what forces them to be drawn to each other, only to find that their very presence chases the other away.  I am the champion of all things misunderstood and the speaker for the damned.”  He paused to let the full weight of his poetic introduction hit me.  I wasn’t really impressed.  “And I also like to think of myself as Ewan’s once and future lover.”

That got an eyebrow raised.  Ewan slumped further into his chair and covered his eyes with one hand.  I could really understand now why he didn’t want me to meet Shannon.  He was embarrassed by him.  I could empathize; I’d had some boyfriends I wasn’t particularly proud of.  I wondered why Ewan was so embarrassed though.  Shannon was gorgeous.  Despite all that he had done in the short span of time that I’d know him, I might be willing to look past all that in order to have one roll in the hay with the guy.  Shannon smiled like he could read my mind.  I started back in my seat, afraid that he could.

“What are you?” I asked.

“What am I, you ask?  I’m afraid I don’t understand your question.”

“Are you a vampire?”

Shannon mulled this over a bit.  He leaned back in his chair and sipped some of his orange juice.  He glanced at Ewan, who had dropped his hand back to his lap, and creased his brows with concern.  He sat up in his chair, put down his drink, and reached a hand out toward Ewan.  This time Ewan moved his head just enough to prevent Shannon’s fingers from touching his cheek.  Shannon frowned, and the expression looked wonderful on him.

“You’re still pale.  When’s the last time you ate?”

Ewan made a show of looking at a nonexistent watch on his wrist.  “Oh, about two minutes ago.”

“Before that,” said Shannon, undeterred.

Ewan shrugged.  “I didn’t feed for a while because I had to prove to Olivia what I was.  And I didn’t want to gush all over the parking lot of a public mall.”

Shannon opened his mouth to say something more but Ewan cut him off.  “Don’t worry about me, Shannon.  I have survived a long time without your help.  And I will continue to do so.”

“If I’d known I’d have given you something more—substantial than pig’s blood.”

“I don’t need anything.  I swear to you, Shannon, I’m fine.”

Ewan finally made eye contact with him.  I couldn’t help but stare at the sparkling green of his eyes.  He suddenly looked very tired, and I think Shannon saw it as well.

“You need to eat something more.  I don’t have anything else here.  And I suppose it would be poor form to offer you another guest.  That wouldn’t be very polite, would it, Dr. Milligan?”

I looked at Shannon as he said my name and only just then realized he was talking about me as the offering.  I clenched my hands into fists on the table.  I was not putting up with this shit.  Let their vampires die.  I wasn’t going to solve a case for a couple of jackasses.

“Well, then your definition of manners has changed somewhat,” Ewan said with a small sneer.

“No, they haven’t.  I am the same as I have ever been.  Despite your efforts to change me.”

I stood up and glanced around for escape routes.  “Look, boys, I don’t know what’s going on and my head is starting to hurt.  I need to go see a shrink or something.  And I need to do it now.  So, if I can figure out how to get home from here, I will.  Otherwise I guess I’ll see y’all on the six o’clock news.”

Shannon’s expression abruptly changed and I couldn’t describe what had happened.  I just suddenly didn’t want to go anymore.  I wanted to stay and find out what he was promising me with those strange eyes of his.

“Knock it off, Shannon.”

“Knock what off?”

I shook my head and glared at Ewan.  “I thought you said vampires didn’t have abilities like that.  You said they had no psi abilities.”

“He’s not using any powers on you, Olivia.  You’re just that attracted to him.”

I felt heat rush to my face and couldn’t look at either of them.  I wanted to leave, but I had no way of getting home.  I was at Ewan’s mercy.  Unless Bob would let me out on foot.  Or I called the cops.  I scanned the apartment for a phone.  I didn’t see one.  I wanted my gun.  For all the good it would do me.

“Olivia, I do sincerely apologize,” Shannon said, trying to placate me. “I realize I can be difficult at times—”

Ewan made a derisive noise in the back of his throat.

“—but that’s just who I am.  You don’t have to like it.  Or me.  But, we do need your help.  I would like to discuss some of the matters of the case with you.  Ewan, why don’t you give us some privacy?”

Ewan was on his feet before I could even register that he had moved.  He slammed his hands flat on the surface of the table and Shannon looked nonplused.

“Shannon, please.  You promised that if we got her involved you would simply let her do her job and leave her alone.”

“What do you care what happens to her?  You say nothing about any other human that crosses my path.”

“Because we need her help and we should have her help us because she wants to.  Not because she fears us.”

Shannon laughed and it sounded unnatural for him.  Like it was something he didn’t do often.

“And you’re telling me that you got her to examine Henry through gentle persuasions and your extraordinary people skills?”  Shannon looked to me.  “Tell me, Olivia, how many times did he threaten you last night?  How many times did you feel unsafe around him?”

I wrapped my arms around myself and closed my eyes.  I still wasn’t feeling very well and I wanted to go away.  Far away.  I couldn’t seriously be here right now.

“Olivia, you’re too deep in it now.  You’ve got to pull yourself together.”

I opened my eyes so I could glare at Shannon.  “You knew humans existed before I came here.  I haven’t had much time to get used to this.  I need time!”

“We don’t have time.  Now get out, Ewan.”

“Shannon!  We can’t leave her in the dark on all this.  She needs to know the truth if she’s going to help us.  We have to be honest with her.  From the beginning.”

“My, my.  Ewan the Quinn lecturing on honesty.  I think I just lost a bet.”

“Shannon.”  Ewan said the name like a curse.

“And I am deeply offended that you would assume I’m going to lie to her.  I’ll probably tell her more truth than you would.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Ewan said with hands clenched into fists.

Shannon looked down on Ewan even though he was physically looking up at him.  “Leave us.”

He said it politely.  Well, as politely as you can tell someone to scram.  Ewan straightened himself with a shrug and started to leave.  I felt my stomach clench.  He wasn’t really going to leave me alone with this man, was he?  And why was I suddenly no longer afraid of Ewan?  I watched him walk around Shannon, and Shannon grabbed his arm.

“Give us a while.  And eat something while you’re gone.”

“No.”

“I could always feed you.”

Ewan pulled himself violently out of Shannon’s grasp.  “No.”  I’d never heard such absolute conviction in someone’s voice before.  I was feeling very scared and I knew it would only get worse when I was finally alone with Shannon.  Ewan stalked to the door.  He flung it open and then looked at me over his shoulder.

“Remember, Olivia, he may not be lying to you, but it won’t be the truth either.”

Then he walked out and slammed the door shut behind him.  The pictures on the wall rattled and I was afraid one of them might fall off.  They settled back safely into place and I was amazed to find that they were pictures of two chocolate labs.  I saw movement to my left and jumped back.  Shannon wasn’t near me though.  He was walking for his couch.  He eased into it and settled down in the pliant leather.  Well, I finally had my wish: that body and leather.  I averted my eyes so that maybe I wouldn’t start thinking about doing things involving that body on that couch.

“I want to thank you.”  I looked up.  “Sincerely.  That’s the longest conversation Ewan and I have had—in a long while.”

That was a conversation?

“Please, come sit down.  I promise I’m not nearly as bad as Ewan has painted me to be.”

I moved away from the table and chairs but knew that I didn’t want to sit next to him where I couldn’t see him completely.  I sat on the matching loveseat across the glass-top pine coffee table from the couch he sat on.  I folded my hands into my lap and stared at the blue candles on one end of the table.

“Olivia, you shouldn’t be afraid.  I won’t hurt you or yours.”

I sighed.  “As long as I’m useful to you.”

“Goodness.  You’re cynical.  Or you’ve been watching too many movies.”

I looked up at Shannon.  He had his arms slung along the back of the couch, pulling his shirt tight across his chest.  His legs were crossed at the ankle and propped on the coffee table.  He looked very inviting, but I was finding it easier to look at him and think about things other than things I shouldn’t.  And he didn’t really seem to be doing it on purpose, as far as I could tell.  He was just an extremely attractive man and that wasn’t really his fault.  It was my fault for not being able to control my thoughts.  Feh.  Fuck that.  I could blame the damn vampire if I wanted.

“So, are you going to tell me about the case now?”

“The case?  Oh, no.  I don’t really know anything about it except that there are vampires turning up dead all over the eastern seaboard of the United States.  You’ll have to talk to Sully for that.”

“Then, why did you say you wanted to be alone to discuss the case?”

“I wanted to be alone with you.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you see the way Ewan reacted?  He’s cute when he’s mad, isn’t he?”

I could feel that my face was slack with disbelief.  I rubbed my face with my hands and leaned back into the soft, comfy leather.  I dropped my hands to my lap and now found it very easy to look at Shannon.  I just didn’t find assholes attractive.

“And you wonder why he hates you.”

“Oh, I don’t wonder.  I know.  Better than you do.  But, I miss Ewan.  We haven’t seen much of each other lately.  And I mean as friends.  He doesn’t really like men.”

“You seem to be quite smitten with them.”

“You pass judgment quickly.”

“Am I wrong?”

“No.  I do like men.  I enjoy them as much as I enjoy women.  It isn’t really the body I care about anyway.  I like to be intimate with the person.  Whether that person comes in a male body, a female body, or some other body, I don’t really care.”

“What other bodies are there than men and women?”

Shannon smiled.  “I see that Ewan, despite his ‘holier than thou’ speech, hasn’t been giving you much information.”

“No, he hasn’t.”

“Well, he can be like that.  He doesn’t like to share things with people he doesn’t trust.  And it may take a while for you to earn his trust.  He guards it very tightly, like all his emotions.  But once he decides to feel a certain way about someone, he is very extreme with his expression of it.  And has trouble changing it.  Which often makes his life difficult when he has conflicting emotions directed at one person.”

I had one of my _very_ rare moments of insight.  “Like with you.”

“Yes.”

“He can’t reconcile his love for you with his hate.”

“No, not quite.  Ewan has never loved me.  I have no delusion of that.  But, you’re right, he does hate me.  He’s even told me he hates me.  Which is saying a lot for him because he does not throw words like that around lightly.”

“Then, what is it?”

“He trusts me.  With his life even.”

“But clearly not his heart.”

Shannon shrugged.  “Ewan and I aren’t much for metaphors.  Or such lofty declamations.  But, don’t think poorly of him on my account.  The way he’s been acting without me around, that’s probably closer to his true personality than when he’s with me.”

I frowned.  I wasn’t sure that was such a good thing.  “So, what are we supposed to do now?”

“Ask me anything, and I’ll satisfy your curiosity.”

I felt the heat creep up to my cheeks again.  Asshole or not he was damn hot.  And he was offering me a lot more than information right now.  I wanted Ewan back in the room.

“What is the Underground?  And what besides vampires exists?  And where are your fangs?”

I asked that last question because Ewan’s blood drinking had reminded me that I had never found out where vampire fangs were when I examined Henry’s body.  Shannon’s brow creased.

“The underground?  Isn’t that what they call the subway in England?”

I put my arm on the back of the loveseat and rested my head on my hand.  I gave Shannon a look I used to give Michael when I wasn’t pleased with him but couldn’t really do anything to make him make me happy.

“What?  I’m serious.  I don’t know what the underground is—oh, I know what you mean.  That’s what all the pissants call us.  I can’t believe Ewan used it.  I guess the ‘Underground’ (here he made little quote signs with his fingers) is the collective term used to describe the non-humans of the world.  There isn’t actually a place underground where we all commune or anything like that.”

“And what does ‘we all’ encompass?”

“All the non-humans.  Well, not animals or anything.  The nonhumans of higher intelligence.”

“Like?” I prompted.

“Well, all the things that you were told are just fairy tales or myths.  And other things besides.”

“Like, witches and trolls and werewolves?”

“I wonder why you only thought of bad things.  And besides, there are many human witches.”

“I don’t believe in magic.”

“Is that so?  How do you explain the vampires you’ve already encountered?”

“I did an autopsy on one.  There are biological and physical explanations for it.”

“Ah, yes.  I’m going to have to get used to being around a scientist again.”

“So, things that are supposed to be stories, are real?”

“Yes, I suppose.  But of course, not everything in your stories actually exists, as far as we know.  And not everything that exists has made it into your stories.”

“How is it you have managed to hide so long?”

“The same reason it’s so hard to find rare animals in the wild.  We’re rare.  Not many left.  Of any of our species.  Which is why this string of murders is such a problem.  This person is killing off all the vampires, and there are so few of us left as it is.”

“So why don’t you make more?”

“Like so many things, that is easier said than done.  And furthermore, while you humans can proliferate like rabbits, you still try to find the murderers of your people.  You don’t just say, make more to make up for the ones that got slaughtered.”

His voice sounded displeased and a little angry with me.  I guess I couldn’t really blame him.  He had made a very good point.  Vampires probably made emotional connections to each other just like humans did.  But, that still didn’t mean I wanted to help save them.

“Okay, I understand why I was brought in to perform Henry’s autopsy, though not why it had to be specifically me.  What I don’t understand is why you still need me.  Are you anticipating more vampire bodies to show up in places where humans will find them?”

“That, and you _are_ useful to us.”

“Why?  Why me?  I have to know why _my_ life is getting shot to hell before I can even begin to care about your little vampire problem.”

Shannon took his feet off the table and sat up.  He leaned forward and removed the lid from a little, yellow duck-shaped jar.  He took a handful of cashews out and sat back against the couch, popping a nut into his mouth.  He chewed on it as he stared at me, and oddly enough, it didn’t make me uncomfortable.  He raised a second nut to his lips and licked the salt off with his tongue.  I had to look away for a moment and only looked back when I heard him crunching on the nut.

“I’m not quite sure why you’re so bothered by all this.  The murder case part of it shouldn’t bother you; that’s what you do for a living.  And I would assume a lot of people would be ecstatic about learning that the creatures of legend are real.  I’m afraid Ewan has given you the wrong impression of us.  He’s usually better behaved than that.”

“It’s not Ewan,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if I was lying.  Ewan had scared me, quite a bit.  “It’s just so incredible is all.  Incredulous might be better.  Unbelievable.  It’s like you guys are changing the laws of physics or something.  I can’t just accept that what I’ve believed all my life is wrong.”

“Are you afraid for your religious beliefs?”

I was caught off guard by the question.  My religious beliefs had never even come up in my mind.  I hadn’t even considered a real life vampire to be a threat to them, but it made sense that it might be.  Ewan had said that crosses and holy water didn’t affect vampires at all.

“I never thought about that,” I admitted.  “I don’t think it does, however.  I guess I’m just more curious as to know if you guys are really ‘pure evil’ or whatever.”

“Meaning, are we creations of the devil?  Do we lack our souls?”

I shrugged.

“Do you believe that serial murderers have souls?”

“How do I know that all serial murderers haven’t been vampires or demons?”

“Ah, demons.  That is where the problem comes in.  You lump vampires and demons into the same category and we are very different.  We were born out of two different wombs, demons and vampires.  And humans from a third.”

I shook my head.  “I don’t believe in creationism.”

“I’m not talking about the Christian creation story.  That is something completely unrelated to all three of us.”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten.  I’d only met two, but vampires couldn’t seem to stay on the subject at hand.  And furthermore, they constantly started on new subjects that called for as much if not more attention than what was originally being discussed.  I opened my eyes and Shannon was looking at his nails.  I had a feeling they were in better condition than my own.

“Okay, I don’t want to deal with that now.  Just, tell me why it has to be me.”

“To tell you why it has to be you would mean I have to explain to you what you don’t want to deal with now.”

I raised my eyes to the ceiling and took in a deep breath.  “Fine.  Go ahead.”

“I don’t think today would be good.  I think you should meet more of us and start working on this case.  Time is valuable, even to the timeless.”

“Then at least explain the fangs.”

“Sure.”  He raised his voice and called out, “Ewan, come in here, would you?”

There was a moment of silence, then the door to his apartment opened and Ewan walked in, looking very much like he had been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to have been doing.  He skulked across the room and ignored Shannon’s offer to sit beside him.

“There’s no way you could have heard me,” Ewan grumbled.

“I didn’t have to hear you.  I just know you that well.”

Ewan bristled at that.  I had to admit I was finding their interaction to be more entertaining than a cause for concern.  It seemed to me that Shannon poked so much because Ewan reacted to it so much, but that Ewan reacted because he chose to and not because he couldn’t control himself.

“Olivia wants to know where you hide your naughty teeth.”

Ewan looked at me.  “Why?”

“Because I couldn’t find where they were on Henry.”

Shannon rose like a cat stretching from a long sleep.  It drew my attention to every line of his body, but I also managed to notice it drew Ewan’s attention as well.  Shannon glided over to Ewan and stopped a few paces away.

“You should feed.  Show her.”

“There’s no one here I can feed on.”

Shannon’s voice dropped to a whisper so intimate it was almost obscene.  “You could feed on me.”

“No, Shannon.”  Ewan backed away.  “Don’t make me.  I don’t want to do that in front of her.”

Shannon played with his ponytail in one hand.  “Suit yourself.”  He turned then and walked to one of the many branching doors and opened it.  A teenaged, blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl tied up in her own pink tank top fell onto the floor.

“Use her then.”


	8. Sullivan

I stared in shock as the girl squirmed on the floor, making small bursts of noise through her gag.  She was blindfolded and her hands were tied behind her back with a shredded pink shirt.  A lacy, white bra still covered her chest and she wore a white mini skirt that had worked it’s way so far up her body that I could tell her underwear matched the bra.  Her legs were not bound.  After a moment, she stopped moving and worked on breathing through her nose.  I still hadn’t moved.  I didn’t know what to do.

Shannon knelt beside the girl and took off the gag.  She took in a few deep breaths and then turned over to her back.  Shannon leaned over her and kissed her lightly on the lips.  The girl sat up as best she could and attacked his mouth with tongue and teeth.  Shannon pulled back and the girl rested on the floor, breathing hard and smiling broadly.

“Are you sure you still want to play with me?” Shannon asked, his voice still masculine, but somehow higher pitched.  The girl nodded.  “Yes,” she moaned.  It looked and sounded like a porno.  Not that I ever watch those types of movies.

Shannon picked up the girl and stood, slinging her over one shoulder.  He looked to Ewan.

“Maybe now isn’t a good time to feed.  Take her to meet Sully and start work on the case.”

“You know he hates it when you call him that.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”  Shannon looked at me and I must have looked like a fish because my mouth was open so wide.  “Don’t worry, Dr. Milligan.  She’s over 18.  It’s all perfectly legal.  Although it is aggravating that Virginia’s statutory age of consent is eighteen.”

Shannon walked effortlessly with the girl on his shoulder, and she wasn’t petite by any means.  He paused by Ewan and brushed his lips against the shorter man’s temple.  Then he continued to the other side of the room and disappeared behind another door.  Ewan and I were left standing in the brightly lit room.  It all looked so bright and cheerful and homey.  You might never suspect that some B&D was going on in the next room over.  Ewan rubbed the side of his head and wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“I told you he was going to be a shock.”

I finally managed to close my mouth.  Ewan just won the Understatement of the Year Award.  And I knew that no matter what else I may face in the upcoming months, nothing was going to take that distinction away from him for this moment.

“Come on,” he said.  “Let me show you to your apartment.  Then we can meet Sullivan.  He actually lives across the hall from you.”

He started to leave and I followed him simply so I could get out of Shannon’s apartment.  I wasn’t very happy about the way the two of them had been talking about the surety of my move to the complex.  I was actually making plans to request a transfer to the field office in Anchorage.  Or maybe Honolulu wouldn’t be so bad.  I caught up with Ewan in the elevator and he pushed the button for floor ten.  The doors closed behind me.

“Look, Ewan, I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.  I’m not living here.  And I can’t believe you still expect me to live here after what I just saw in that room.”

The elevator dinged and Ewan started to get off, but I stayed on and pushed the button for the ground floor.  Ewan got back on with me and the doors closed.  He pushed the emergency stop button and the elevator jerked slightly as the emergency brakes locked.  The lights went out and the emergency lights flashed on, steeping us in orange semi-darkness.  I’m not normally claustrophobic, but you know, sometimes those phobias can be thrust upon you.  I backed into the wall, and Ewan kept his distance.

“Olivia, you _can_ do this.  You have to.  Only you can.  And you will be living here because it is the safest place you can be.  Because once the killer gets wind that the person doing this investigation is human, he’ll come after you and you won’t be able to protect yourself.  And what goes on in Shannon’s bedroom is no more your business than what goes on in anyone else’s bedroom.  Besides, he’s right: it was all legal.  That girl came up voluntarily, got tied up voluntarily, and is probably being inflicted with various forms of torture right now.  But you know what, some people get off on that.”

Ewan’s little speech had angered me out of my fear and I took the two steps needed to put myself right up in his face.

“Why?  Why am I the _only_ one who can do this?  I have a right to know!  I might be helping save some of your precious vampire friends, so I deserve to know why my life is now in danger because of that.”

“You aren’t ready to know.  And even if I told you, you won’t believe it.  You can’t believe it.”

“Try me.”

“No.  You’ll just have to suck it up for now.”

I let out an infuriated shout and turned to pace, but found that I couldn’t in the tight space.  I grabbed onto the railing of the back wall and squeezed it until my knuckles turned white.  I heard Ewan lean against the doors and I stomped my foot just to have something to attack.  I turned around slowly and put my back to the wall.  Ewan was completely shadowed, but his eyes burned dark green out of the dark.

“What if I request a transfer and leave Norfolk?”

“We’ll stop it.”

“How?”

“You probably don’t want to know.  Just know that we will.”

“This is—”

“Extortion?  Coercion?  Yes, it is a great many things.  But you have no choices right now.  The only choice you have is whether you want the apartment on the tenth floor or the eighth.”

“You can’t watch me forever.  What if I run?”

“We’ll follow you.”

“Maybe the killer will get to you before you can catch me.”

Ewan stepped out of the shadows and advanced on me.  I pressed myself against the wall and flinched when he slammed his hands on either side of my head.  He leaned so close to me that I could see that his pupils had dilated to nearly the size of his irises.  Only a thin circle of deep green was visible.  I wondered if he could actually see like that.

“You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you, Olivia?”

I felt his breath on my face and it smelled faintly of cinnamon.  There was something very strange about it, and I realized that it wasn’t warm.  It felt like a cool breeze.  Then his words registered in my head.

“Wouldn’t want what to happen?”

My voice was hoarse and barely a whisper.  It was kind of embarrassing that he had scared me into such a state.  My heart was thudding and my breath had quickened.  Although, I didn’t really feel scared.  All I could really feel was the weight of Ewan’s presence around and pressing down on me.  And I couldn’t quite convince myself that is was a bad feeling.

“Would you want the killer to find me?  Take away all your problems?”

I stared into his eyes, unable to look anywhere else.  “Yes.”

His pupils suddenly retracted and the air around me lightened tangibly.

“Too bad.  You’re stuck with us until this is solved.”

He spun away and hit the emergency button.  The lights flashed back to fluorescent white and the elevator jerked once before dinging and opening its doors.  Ewan stepped part way off and held the doors open.  Not for me to step through, just to keep me from going down.  I finally peeled myself off the wall and left the elevator.  Ewan walked beside me down the hall.  When I’m angry, silence bothers me.  Usually I turn on a CD or the TV, but in situations like these all I can do is talk.

“So, it was all crap then, huh?”

“What was?”

“Shannon said the body of who he slept with didn’t matter, it was just the person he wanted to be more intimate with.  He’s kind of slut, isn’t he?”

Ewan let out a bark of laughter.  “That’s what he told you?  I have known him nearly all my life and he never ceases to amaze me.  And yeah, he’s a slut.”

“STD’s not a problem for you guys?”

“Nope.”

We paused by the door that was the equivalent to Shannon’s, only one floor up, 1004.  The ninth floor had been done in yellow.  This floor was in green.  I looked at the door across the hall, 1003.  Someone named Sullivan lived there.  I turned back to 1004 and Ewan was looking through a set of keys.  He found the one he was looking for and unlocked the door.  He started inside and I followed.

“Do you have keys to all the apartments?”

“Yes.”  He turned to face me and smiled.  “I’m the landlord.”

“Great.”

I looked around the apartment.  It was as large and nice as Shannon’s had been.  Almost the exact same layout with the back wall being mostly windows.  The difference was that it was completely empty.  Our shoes echoed in the empty space and we paused in the middle of the room.  I looked at the door that mirrored the one the girl had fallen out of in Shannon’s apartment.  I wondered if any people had ever been tied up in any of these rooms before.  I shuddered at the thought of sleeping in a bedroom where the things that that girl found to be fun might have happened.

“No one’s ever lived here before.”  I looked over at Ewan.  “You don’t have to worry about anything being—stained or something.  And I guess I should be fair.  Shannon isn’t really that bad.  In the sense of what is happening downstairs.  He probably does pick his lovers very carefully.  He doesn’t just bring home random people for sex.  Usually.  That girl, he’s been trying for months to get her to give up and go away.  I guess he decided that giving her exactly what she wants might scare her off.  You know, the whole be careful what you wish for thing.”

I turned on my heels and faced Ewan.  “Are you defending Shannon?”

Ewan ruffled up like an offended cat.  “I’m _not_ defending him.  I’m just trying to make you feel better.”

I sighed, suddenly tired.  “That’s terrific, Ewan.  But I’m sick of all this and I’ve only been in your world for two days.”

I couldn’t be sure, but I think Ewan held back a sigh.  He was becoming impatient with me.  But, like I really gave a flying cupcake.

“Olivia, I didn’t give you a choice in this.  But, I’m not going to apologize for that.  And you’re just going to have to accept the fact that you have to live in this world.  Forever.  We can’t send you back.  There’s no way we can erase your memory or make everything the way it was.”

“Then I owe you.”

He tilted his head slightly, a smile playing on his lips.  “Owe me what?”

“One life-altering event.”

Ewan smiled and walked toward me.  But, walked didn’t really cover it.  He was moving, but it was kind of like watching a jaguar approach, mostly because of those eyes.  He stopped a couple paces away and stuck out his hand.

“Deal.”

I looked at his outstretched hand and noticed how white his arm seemed.  I shook his hand and quickly dropped it.

“Shannon may be right.  You look pale.”

“Oh, don’t you start now.”  Ewan walked back to the center of the room and spread his arms out, turning slowly.  “So, what do you think?  This is all yours.  Rent and utilities will be taken care of by your landlord.”  He gave me a wink.  “And our dear friend, Aislinn, would like to take you shopping for furniture and other such necessities anytime you would like.  Her treat.”

“Why?”

“We owe you, Olivia.  You’re going to save us.”

“Why should she care?”

Ewan shrugged.  “She and Henry pretended not to get along.  But, I think they were in love.”

“Oh.”

I’d never had to talk to any loved ones of people I had done autopsies on before, let alone go shopping with them.

“Is this acceptable?”

I scowled at Ewan.  “No.  But, I guess I don’t really have a choice.”

“No, not really.  But, at least you’re all set for new living arrangements.  And you’re only a five-minute drive from work.  As in your real job.”

“Five minutes the way you drive?”

Ewan thought a moment.  “Maybe a fifteen-minute drive.”

“Terrific.  Fantastic.  I’m so excited.  Can’t wait to move in.  I hope you allow pets.”

“We do.  We have a very liberal policy on pets.  But, of course, I can’t guarantee you it won’t get eaten.”

I gasped and stared at Ewan.  He grinned and I couldn’t tell if he was joking with me or not.  He headed back toward the main door and I had no choice but to follow him.  I actually wanted to see the rest of the apartment, but I guess it had to wait.  Ewan held the door open for me and continued to smile as I passed by him.  I stopped suddenly and stuck a finger in his face.

“If my cat gets eaten, I’m coming after you.”

“Fair enough.”

He kissed the end of my finger.  I jerked my hand back even as I felt a little tingle pass through my body.  I crossed my arms over my chest and let my scowl furrow deeper.  I was mad at myself for the way I kept reacting to Ewan’s teasing.  He wasn’t even cute, not really.  I could understand if this was happening with Shannon, but Ewan?  Sprite can eyes?

“Olivia?”

I looked back down the hall and saw that Ewan had stopped at the door across the hall from mine.  Mine.  Funny how I was already thinking of it as my apartment.  I walked back toward him and he knocked on the door.  We waited a few moments and then the door swung open and a dark blur shot out, nailing Ewan and sending them both crashing into the wall on the opposite side.  I jumped back and got ready to run for the elevator, but then I heard laughing and looked at Ewan and his attacker.

A young child, maybe about ten years old, was sitting on Ewan’s chest and smiling down at him.  Ewan was the one laughing and he was rubbing the back of his head gently.  The child’s skin was a deep tan color and its (I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl) hair color was a deep blue.  And I wasn’t mistaken; it wasn’t black and maybe looked funny because of the lights, it was blue.  And pulled into two pigtails.  It wore a long black cape, but underneath that was a typical pair of jean shorts and yellow T-shirt.

“I gotcha!” it yelled triumphantly.

Ewan sat up and rocked the child back into his lap.  Now that I got a better look at its face, I was pretty sure it was a girl.  She grinned up at Ewan and a beautiful set of midnight blue eyes shined up at him.  Movement in the door made me look away from them and to the person who had appeared in the frame, pulling the door shut behind him.

He was pale.  That was really the only word for him.  His skin was ivory white, his hair that white-blonde that most children grow out of.  Even his clothes were light-colored.  But, I noticed all that secondarily to his eyes.  They were so dark that in his pale face they looked like black marbles.  After I could stop staring at his eyes, I was able to take in that he was a fairly attractive man, and that his skin wasn’t nearly so pale as I thought.  It just looked that way in contrast to his eyes.  He smiled down at Ewan and the child and then glanced at me.  He seemed unsure of what to do.  Fortunately, Ewan had managed to right himself and held the little girl in his arms, her legs swinging contentedly.  He walked over to us and set the girl down.

“Olivia, this is Sullivan Flanagan.  He’s kind of like a PI for the Underground.  And our resident bleeding heart.”

Sullivan smiled at Ewan.  “That’s like the pot calling the kettle black.”

Ewan twisted his lips into an amused, partial smile.  “Sully, this is Olivia Milligan.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said as he stuck his hand out.  I accepted and he gave me a firm handshake.  “That’s a nice Irish name you have there.”

“Uh, thank you,” I said.  “I think I’m actually noticing a trend.  Are all the vampires in the world from Ireland?”

Sullivan laughed.  “Not at all.  Just the attractive ones.”

I smiled.  Wait a minute.  Vampire!  Not supposed to be friendly.  Sullivan set his dark eyes on Ewan and raised an eyebrow.

“Now, sir, you’ve either been spending too much time around Shannon or you’re trying to make me angry.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The little girl tugged on Ewan’s hand and he looked down at her.  He squatted down to put himself on eye level with her.  He ruffled her bangs and spoke with a heavy Irish accent.

“And what have you been doin’ today, Raphaela?”

She giggled.  “I drew a picture.  Wanna see?”

“Of course.”

The little girl struggled with the doorknob and then pulled Ewan into the apartment.  Sullivan smiled after them.  Then he stepped aside and politely offered to let me go in first.  I walked into the apartment and found that it looked like a small disaster area.  Toys and books and sippy-cups and, oddly enough, clothes littered the floor and tables and the furniture that had probably at one time been very nice.  There were also four children ranging from five to ten other than Raphaela running around and screaming their heads off.  I wondered why I hadn’t heard them out in the hall and turned to look at Sullivan.  He smiled.

“We’ve made sure the noise doesn’t carry through the walls.”

I bobbed my head in understanding, then gave a start.  Made sure how?  Like magic?  Shit, please tell me there was no such thing as magic.  My chest had tightened on me and I looked around nervously.  Sullivan brushed past me and murmured in my ear, “We’ve soundproofed the walls, Olivia.”

I stood by the door, a little embarrassed, and watched Sullivan step to the center of the room and shout out over the noise.  The children settled down and came to him.  Now I was able to see that, like Raphaela, they were all abnormal in appearance.  Their skin colors were normal enough, ranging from a white similar to Sullivan’s paleness to a deep, deep brown.  But most of their hair colors were not found naturally in humans and a couple had eyes that looked more like animal eyes than human.  One of them had a tail.

I stood where Sullivan had left me and the children whispered and pointed at me.  Sullivan managed to get their attention again.  He tapped each one on the head as he said their name.

“Rune, Lot, Yatima, Tiassalle.  This is Dr. Milligan.  Say hello.”

There was a soft chorus of, “Hello, Dr. Milligan.”

I cleared my throat and managed to say hello back to them.  Then Sullivan sent them off to their rooms with a gentle command to be quiet and stay put until told otherwise.  They reluctantly headed back for their rooms, looking at me over their shoulders.  I saw Raphaela join them in their slow procession and Ewan appeared by my side with a picture of a boat on a lake done in crayon in his hand.  They disappeared around a corner and we were left alone in the middle of the settled chaos.

“Can I offer you anything, Dr. Milligan?”

I looked at Sullivan and tried to do something other than stand around like an idiot.  “Uh, no thank you.  I’m fine.”

“Okay.  Ewan?  Would you like something?  It looks like you could use it, you look a little pale.”

Ewan looked sidelong at Sullivan out of his green eyes.  He must have been tired of people telling him that.  “That’s kind of like the albino calling the snow white, eh, Sully?”

Sullivan chuckled.  “Alright, alright.  You’ve made your point.”

We walked to a blue couch that had definitely seen better days and Sullivan brushed off some toys and Cheeto crumbs and offered us a seat.  I sat gingerly on the end, afraid of what might be on the couch.  Don’t get me wrong, I like children—sort of.  But they are pretty messy and you never know what they’ve been in.  Not that I’m one to talk with my career choice.

Ewan sat next to me, right where two cushions met.  They buckled in and I fell back and in toward him.  I had to catch myself on his thigh.  He did nothing to either help or hinder me, and all I could do was struggle to sit up, putting us hip to hip.  And since I was already at the end of the couch, I couldn’t really scoot away from him.  I also felt his arm behind me on the back of the couch.  I scooted forward, but the couch was so misshapen that it sunk in toward the back and all I could do was either sit closely to Ewan or sit on the hard edge of the very front of the couch.  I chose the uncomfortable edge of the front of the couch.  Sullivan had disappeared and Ewan and I sat in a semi-uncomfortable silence.

“So, what are those things?” I asked.

“What things?”

“Those kids.”

“They’re children.”

“They’re not human.”

“No, they’re not.  That’s why they live here in the apartment.  Since we built this complex about a year ago, they’ve only just now been allowed outside because the complex is gated in and several miles out in the middle of nowhere.  This was the closest they’ve ever been to a human before.”

“Why?”

“Do you really think we could let them go out in public?  That’s how they nearly went extinct in the first place.”

“Extinct?”

“Humans hunted and killed them.  We thought they were gone by the 1000’s.  Sometime in the 1980’s, someone found a group of orphans living in Wales.  They had done a very good job of concealing themselves, but the children, without a parent to take care of them, were helpless.  So, various people in the Underground took them in.  Of course, we don’t know anything about the way they live or how they managed to hide themselves for so long.  So, all we can do is take care of them ourselves and force them to live their lives indoors.”

“Surely these aren’t the same children that were found back then.”

“They have a little bit longer lifespan than wereanimals.  They age slow, but not as slowly as vampires.”

“Wereanimals live longer than humans?”

“Yes.  Is this a surprise?”

“I thought wereanimals were just humans with lycanthropy.  Well, according to the stories.”

“They are.  And being a wereanimal sucks.  A lot.  They’re like, the lowest thing in our social circles because they are humans.  I guess the only benefit to having the disease is increased strength and a longer lifespan.”

I raised my eyebrows.  “Diseases usually shorten your lifespan.”

Ewan shrugged.

“So, why are they all here?”

“They aren’t all here, but Sullivan offered to take some of them in.  He has a soft spot for kids and puppies and orphans and shit like that.”

Sullivan returned with a thick stack of files in his hands. He sat on the edge of the couch so that he wouldn’t be sucked back into it like it was threatening to do to Ewan.  He spread out some manila colored files on the coffee table he had cleared off by sweeping everything to the floor.

As far as I could tell, they were all unmarked except for a name at the top right hand corner, but only a first name, no last names.  The top file was marked “Henry.”  I glanced at Ewan and he was resting his head on the back of the couch with his eyes closed.  I leaned over his legs to be closer to the files.  Sullivan looked at me with his obsidian eyes.

“I hope you don’t mind starting right away.”

“Sooner we start, sooner I finish.”

“I hope so.”

Sullivan opened a file and spread out several pictures.  They were old and dog-eared.  I could tell that they were printed in a time before modern photography techniques.  They were in color though.  I blinked my eyes at the confusing splashes of red.  I couldn’t quite make sense of them, so I picked one up and turned it around a bit, trying to find what might be the top.  Then I saw a white marble in one corner of the frame.  I looked closer and saw the ruined remains of an iris and pupil in the white orb.  I moved the picture away from me, taken aback.  After realizing the white marble was an eye, it was easier to put together the pieces in the photo.  Ever wonder what a person might look like if they just suddenly exploded everywhere?  I didn’t have to anymore.

I set the photo back on the table.  I swallowed.  “This is just a first impression, and I don’t know much about the case, so feel free to correct me, but this looks unrelated to Henry’s murder based merely on the method with which they were killed.”

“Well, these aren’t the only two murders.  It’s easier to connect them when you see them in chronological order.”  He handed me the file folder.  The name at the top said “Lillian.”  It was impossible to tell from the photos whether it had been male or female.  “There was also a note left from the murderer.  It’s in the file.”

I flipped open the file and thumbed through a pretty meager gathering of evidence, mostly statements from witnesses.  I didn’t bother to read them and continued to flip until I found a piece of wrinkled paper preserved in a plastic bag.  I turned it right side up.  In a neat, flowing script it read, “I’ve got your attention now.”

I looked up at Sullivan.  “So, what does this mean?”

“We don’t know.  This first murder was in 1951 in London.  Nothing happened for ten years.  We thought maybe it was someone who had a grudge against Lillian.  Then, this happened in 1962 in Hungary.”

He tossed a file at me and I put Lillian’s back down.  Sullivan began to organize the photos and put them back as I opened the file marked “Ervin.”  A plastic bag with a note inside fell onto my lap.  I picked it up and read the message: “Two down, three hundred thirty-one to go.”  I looked down at the first picture, and then looked away.  I couldn’t tell if it was not as bad as the first one or worse.  The first one had been an absolute mess of a person, nothing left to really identify it as a person.  This photo, however, was clearly a body.  It had been cut in half from head to groin, and then both arms and both legs had been split open as well.  Even though the face was in half, you could tell that his mouth was open in an “oh” of surprise.  I covered my mouth and took in a breath as I looked at all the blood.

“Was there more than one murder at this time?”

“No.  Just the one.”

“That’s too much blood for one body.”

“Not for a well-fed vampire,” Ewan murmured with his head still on the back of the couch.

I looked at the gallons and gallons of blood pooling around the body and running off the frame.  I was suddenly thankful that Ewan had decided not to eat before meeting me.  I didn’t bother to look at any of the other photos.

“So, do you know what these messages might mean?”

“We do now.  Of course, when I first started working on the case, I didn’t really know.”

“When did you start working on it?”

“Well, in 1951.  When the first one happened.”

I blinked at Sullivan.  He looked about my age.  But, right, he was a vampire.

“So, do I have to look at all these bloody photos or are you just going to tell me?”

“Well, that’s just it.  Each murder got successively less bloody and more frequent.  There have been twenty murders in just this year alone.  All the bodies looked like Henry’s.  Completely untouched.  But, now you’ve apparently found that somehow they managed to remove his hypothalamus.  It’s possible that that’s what happened to all of them.”  He handed me Henry’s file.  “There’s the last note.”

I opened it up and there was a photo of the body I had examined lying in a large king-sized bed.  Above it on the yellow wall there was a number written in green paint: 128.  I looked the picture over carefully, looking for signs of struggle or distress.  There were none.  In fact, Henry looked like he was sleeping.  I felt the couch shift and I looked up to see Ewan leaning forward, looking at the picture in my hand.  His face was completely neutral.  I couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all.  I looked once more to Sullivan for help.

“I don’t get it.  What’s with the numbers?”

“Well, I didn’t even connect them as being related until the 80’s.  The murders seemed to be spread out all across the globe.  In the late 70’s they began to be regionalized.  Vampires were killed in one country.  And then they started turning up dead in another.  Every vampire was found with a number associated with it, counting down.  There were times that the numbers seemed to jump around, but that was because we were finding them in the wrong order.  Some we still haven’t managed to find.”

I picked up on where he was going with this.  “You think the killer is counting down the number of vampires he’s going to kill?”

“Yes and no.  He’s counting down the number of vampires he’s going to kill because there are only that many to kill.”

“Seriously?  There’s only a 128 vampires in the world?”

“I was skeptical too.  But, we had no way of knowing how many vampires were alive in the world.  Except one of us.  So, I got Ewan to get Shannon to help us.  Shannon may be a pain in the ass, but he’s useful sometimes.  Shannon called all the vampires together.  This was only a couple years ago.  Every single one of us left in the world had to answer his call.  We couldn’t believe how few of us were left.  The murders notwithstanding, we had let our numbers dwindle to practically nothing.  So, we took a count.  With those vampires present and counting up the bodies found and those presumed dead, it totaled 333.  The same number our murderer claimed existed when he started killing us.”  Sullivan dry-washed his face.  “I mean, it was just too incredible.  The killer knew exactly how many of us there was when we ourselves didn’t know.”

I looked at the large stack of files on the table and did some quick math in my head.  205 murders in a little over fifty years.  There were a few serial killers who had killed more in less time, but they had all gotten sloppy; the clues had built up.  Those killers had been caught.  Of course, there could be killers out there who had killed that many and never been caught, so naturally we don’t know about them.  But, it did seem odd that the vampires hadn’t managed to get any information.  After all, there were 205 files, but the stack was relatively thin; there was no information.

“What happened after you all met two years ago?”

“I told my theory to them, about the killer trying to eliminate us one by one.  Most didn’t believe it.  In the last two years, the murders have really escalated, and they all started flocking here out of fear.  That’s why we built this apartment complex.  It’s kind of like a safe house, except, clearly, it’s not safe.”

I remembered the picture of Henry in bed.  “Was Henry murdered here?  Has the murderer been in the building?”

“No, we don’t believe so.  Henry was killed in a hotel in Richmond.  The maid found him.  Out of the 200 plus murders, not one had taken place in public.  This was done where the humans could find him.  We found out about your transfer here to Norfolk and barely managed to get the strings pulled far enough to get him shipped down here rather than cut up in Richmond.  The killer is getting careless.  I don’t understand that.  He has to be a part of the Underground.  He’s been killing since 1951; he’s not human.  He should realize the dangers of revealing ourselves to humans.”

“Could it be a copy-cat?  Or a legacy?  One guy started it and his protégés are just following in his footsteps.”

Sullivan shrugged.  “I would have to say no.  The handwriting is the same.  And the smell is the same.”

“Smell?”  My voice was colored with confusion and a little disgust.

“Well, everything has a scent.  People, animals.  I’ve been to every single crime scene.  They all smell the same.  And even if it was a legacy, and the children of the killer were doing the killing, there would be slight differences.”

Once again, I blinked at him.  “That’s kind of weird, you know.”

He sat back, a little defensive.  “Maybe for you.”

“So, why don’t you just track him?  You know his scent.”

He gave me a look.  “It’s not like I’m a bloodhound.  Not that kind of smell.”

“Not that kind of smell?  What other kinds are there?”

“It’s just—”

“Don’t bother,” Ewan interrupted.  “She won’t understand.  Just understand, Olivia, that Sullivan knows it’s the same killer, but we don’t know who it is or how he’s finding us.  We now know that he’s found a very clean and effective way of killing us, but we don’t know _how_.  What could do that, Sully?  What could eat our brains from the inside out?”

Sullivan shook his head and started to shrug his shoulders.  Then he sat up straight.

“Fuck me.  That could be it.”

Ewan and I looked at each other, and then at Sullivan.  “What could be it?” I asked.

“What Ewan just said.  Before he said it looked like it had been burned or cut with a laser.  I didn’t know how to explain that either.  But what if it wasn’t burned out.  What if it was _eaten_ out?”

I was still just as lost, but Ewan seemed to pick up on where he was going.

“It could be a type of fairy or pixie,” said Ewan.

Sullivan gave a slight shake of his head.  “Yes, but _what_ kind?  There must be hundreds of different species.  And even if it is a fairy, it’s either working for or being used by our killer.  And who knows what that might be.”

Ewan scooted forward to the front of the couch and I had to lean forward to keep Sullivan in my sight.  Ewan placed his chin in his hand and his elbow on his knee.  He looked like he was thinking _real_ hard.  I hoped he didn’t hurt himself.  I laughed to myself at my lame joke.  Hey, I didn’t like the guy.  I could pick on him if I wanted.  Sullivan and Ewan remained quiet for several long minutes.  Finally, I stood up.

“Well, it looks like you boys won’t be needing me anymore.  Now that you know what you’re looking for.  I mean, it’s not like I can help since I don’t know anything about fairies or pixies or where to find them.  So, thanks for the offer of the new apartment and all, but I guess I’ll just slip on out of the Underground.  And don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.  I won’t tell anyone about anything.  And if you don’t trust me, just remember that if I tell anyone I’ll be carted off to the nuthouse anyway.  So, later.”

I turned to go, but not really leave since, once again, I realized I had no way home.  Not that it mattered because Ewan grabbed me by the wrist and forced me back to the couch.  I don’t know if he planned it or not, but I stumbled over his feet and sat on his lap.  The momentum kept my upper body moving and I fell completely back, my head falling into Sullivan’s lap.  I lay stunned for a moment because it had happened so quickly.  When I managed to focus my eyes, Ewan was leaning over toward Sullivan.  I stared up at their faces.  Ewan now looked less pale as close as he was to Sullivan, and their stone-colored eyes looked down on me with amusement: Ewan’s emerald green and Sullivan’s obsidian black.  I couldn’t even see Sullivan’s pupils his eyes were so dark.  And then I became very aware that I was in both their laps.  Ewan’s legs were spread slightly apart, so that I fit in between them, and my hair was splayed across Sullivan’s light colored pants.  I concentrated on trying not to discern any shapes I might be feeling with the back of my head.

I felt the urge rise in me to scream out and jump away from them, but a soft hand smoothed the hair back from my head and the urge subsided.  I realized it was Sullivan stroking my hair.  A second hand used its fingertips to run up my bare arm, raising goosebumps as it went.  That was Ewan’s hand.  The men’s faces were right beside each other, Ewan having rested his chin on Sullivan’s shoulder.  They were smiling down at me like they knew a secret I would never know.

Sullivan began speaking, whispering really.  I concentrated on trying to hear what he said, but realized after a few sentences that I couldn’t understand him because he wasn’t speaking English.  I didn’t recognize the language, but Ewan answered back.  I had a feeling it was Gaelic or one of its variations.  Somewhere in my mind I could hear myself screaming to run, to get away from them.  But I couldn’t get my body to move.  It was actually very comfortable lying on them, their fingers touching me lightly.

“Olivia?”

I opened my eyes.  The fact that I had closed my eyes without realizing it pulled me out of my stupor and I attempted to move, but their hands held me down.

“Olivia,” said Ewan, “I told you, we needed your help on this case.  It is far from solved.  When it is solved, you will have the option of forgetting us or staying with us.  But, not until then.”

I could feel that I was trying to be angry, but I couldn’t get the emotion to surface.  It was stuck under comfortableness and, surprisingly, curiosity.  Although I wasn’t really sure as to what I was curious about.  Looking up at their eyes, which suddenly seemed predatory, caused the comfort to shatter into fear.

“Let me go.”

My voice sounded small and helpless.  They smiled at my show of weakness.  Out of nowhere the poem about the “Walrus and the Carpenter” popped into my head.  And boy did I ever feel like a duped oyster.

“I thought you wanted to know,” said Ewan, his whole head moving because his chin was still on Sullivan’s shoulder.

“Know what?”

“About our fangs.”

Sullivan smiled.  Up until this point I had been aware there had been something strange about him, but I couldn’t figure out what.  I realized now that he had never smiled opened-mouthed and when he spoke, he spoke softly without moving his lips much.  Now he smiled down at me, revealing his perfectly straight, white teeth.  My heart thumped once against my chest like a hammer and then I could have sworn it stopped all together.

Two-inch razors replaced his incisors.  Oh, they were white and fang-tooth shaped, but you couldn’t fool me.  They were razors.  They even gleamed in the light streaming in from the windows.  Ewan raised a hand and pointed at one of Sullivan’s fangs.

“This is the way they should look.  But, if we want to walk about among the humans, we have to file them down.”

He smiled at me to show where his fangs should be, but they were only normal looking incisors if perhaps a little more pointy than usual.  Movement of Ewan’s hand made me look back at the fangs.  He pressed the pad of his index finger against one of them gently.  When he pulled his finger back a droplet of blood had already formed.

“You must be careful around them, Olivia,” Ewan was saying.  “They’re _very_ sharp.”

Sullivan’s tongue flicked across Ewan’s finger, and the droplet disappeared.  I stared on as Sullivan suddenly gained some color.  His eyes closed and a soft moan escaped his parted lips.  He opened his eyes again and looked down on me even as he spoke to Ewan.

“I had forgotten what you tasted like.  Your blood is nearly as potent as Shannon’s.”

“Come now, it’s not that bad.”

Ewan leaned over Sullivan, bringing himself closer to me.

“Would you still like to know?”

I checked to see if I was still breathing so that I might answer him.  “Know what?”

“About the feeding being like sex part.”

I remembered asking him that in the autopsy bay.  He had used the same whispering voice, and the same static surrounded my body again, making me aware of every inch of my skin, even through my clothes.  Which also made me aware of where their hands were.  Four hands were on me: one at the top of my head, one at my neck, one on my right arm, and the fourth on the underside of my right thigh.

“No.”  I was surprised at the strength in my voice.  “No, I don’t want to know anymore.”

Apparently it wasn’t strong enough for them, though.  The hand on my arm jerked me up and the hand on my neck stopped me from going past Sullivan’s face.  I felt my entire body go tense as their hands moved to hold me in place.  I saw Sullivan’s white-blonde hair move out of my line of sight to my left.  I realized that in a matter of seconds, maybe less, I was going to feel those razor-sharp teeth biting into me.  I opened my mouth to scream and it caught in my throat when I felt Sullivan make contact.  But, it wasn’t fangs.  It was lips.  Soft, dry lips that were slightly parted so that his warm breath raised the hairs on the back of my neck.  Then there was the warmer wetness of a tongue.

I looked to the ceiling, focusing on a spot of red in the white paint.  Maybe it was from finger-painting gone horribly wrong.  The mouth at my neck pulled me back from those thoughts.  It was working very hard to make me stay aware of it.  I looked toward Ewan as I felt him move, he was leaning over me and it caused the three of us to fall back toward the couch.  I flexed my arms, but they were held immobile.  I tried to tell them stop, but my voice wouldn’t work.  I felt panicked that I couldn’t do anything to stop them.  But, no way was I about to have a three way with two vampires on a dirty couch.

“Sullivan?”

The two vampires froze at the sound of the soft voice.  They sat up quickly and I was left lying in their laps again.  The child with the lightest skin stood in front of us.  She was blinking very startled, amber eyes at us.  Sullivan cleared his throat.

“Yes, Tia?”

“I need to use the bathroom.  But the toilet paper is gone.  And I can’t reach the shelf.”

“Okay, you head back and I’ll be right there.”

The little girl blinked at us a couple more times, then turned and padded back from whence she came.  Sullivan pushed me completely into Ewan’s lap and stood up.  He started around the couch and then paused by the arm.  The color had receded from his face and he looked paler than before.

“Please accept my apologies, Olivia.  Believe me when I say that I was temporarily not myself.  Such a transgression will never happen again.  I hope you will find it possible to continue working on the case with me.”

He stared at the floor, his body practically trembling with his tension.  I realized that he was speaking the truth and that whatever had possessed him to do what he did on the couch was not truly his personality.  But, I sure as hell wasn’t happy about it.

“I can still work with you.”

Sullivan’s body didn’t relax at all.  I’m sure he was aware that I had not forgiven him in the least for what he had done.  “Thank you, Olivia.”  He glanced quickly at Ewan before walking swiftly out of the room.  It was only then that I remembered that I was in Ewan’s lap.

I pushed against him as hard as I could and he let me slide off his legs to the floor.  I hit my elbow on the coffee table and cursed softly, even now remembering there were children in the apartment.  I got quickly to my feet, nursing my poor elbow.  There was a twinge of pain in my left ankle and I was afraid I’d aggravated my injury from Alabama.  I felt hot with my anger and cold with fear.  The result was a storm of emotion that I was barely keeping under control.  I wanted nothing more than to squeeze Ewan’s neck until his head popped off.  Then the killer would only have 127 more to go.

Ewan rose from the couch and straightened some of the files on the table.  I walked away from him.  I got nearly to the door before I turned around and started pacing a long oval track.  Ewan didn’t say anything, just watched me pace.  I wanted out of this.  It was too creepy.  Too invasive.

I stepped on a hard plastic toy with my left foot and my ankle bent over.  The pain raced up my leg and settled just behind my eyes before shooting back down.  I hopped on my right foot and cursed rather loudly, no longer caring about the children’s virgin ears.  With these two around they probably weren’t anyway.  I would have fallen over if Ewan hadn’t cupped my elbow with his hand to steady me.  I jerked away from his touch and fell on my ass anyway.  I felt tears starting.  I gripped my forearms with my nails, biting down into my skin as hard as I could.  I had promised myself I would stop crying over every little thing.  I concentrated on the pain and managed to bring myself back under reasonable control.

I looked up into Ewan’s Sprite can eyes.  He was kneeling in front of me and had the grace to look somewhat abashed.  I pursed my lips together and glared at him.  I had a feeling dirty looks didn’t affect people in the same way after a few hundred years.  Ewan shrugged one shoulder.

“Sorry.  That was an accident.  I didn’t know he was going to taste my blood.”

I crossed my arms with a grunt of frustration.  “What does that matter?  Besides, I thought vampires couldn’t feed off each other.”

“Why not?”

“Because you can’t get life from the dead.”

“But we’re not dead.”

I opened my mouth to argue and then snapped it shut.  I’d forgotten.  According to Sprite can eyes, vampires were living.  “So why don’t you guys just feed on each other?”

“Cannibalism?  Come now, Olivia.  Even humans frown upon that.”

“Then why did Shannon offer to feed you?”

“Shannon has issues.”

He said that like it explained everything.  “But Sullivan said he’s tasted you before, so clearly he’s fed off you before.”

Ewan glanced to the side and found a stain on the carpet very interesting.  “Shannon’s blood, and my blood to some degree, is—special.”

“Special how?”

“Special like after he tasted me he was ready to do things with you that he normally doesn’t do on even the fourth date.”

I rolled my eyes.  “So, what, your blood is like liquid sex?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then how exactly?”

The children returned to the room then with a bang, a crash, and high-pitched squealing.  Some were screeching, “I didn’t do it,” and the rest were shrieking, “They did it.”  Sullivan was doing his best to get them quiet and Ewan offered a hand to help me up.  I refused it and stood up on my own.  I was afraid my ankle might really be hurting me, but I could put my full weight on it with only a dull ache to remind me that it wasn’t happy.

Sullivan came up to us and he seemed to have recovered from his embarrassment, although he couldn’t quite meet my eyes.  He stood by Ewan and crossed his arms in a relaxed manner.

“So, should we just approach the fairy kings and queens directly, or try to get some information out of lesser fairies?”

Ewan rubbed his jaw with a hand.  “That could be dangerous if the king or queen found out we were harassing their people.”

“Yes, but if we approach them directly, what if they’re the ones that made the deal with the killer?  They would warn him and then he would know to be more careful.”

“Yeah, I guess so.  I mean, hassling fairies really isn’t that big a deal.  As long as we don’t get caught.”

“But if we do get caught, we’re dead and finding the killer won’t matter anymore.”

“True, true.”

They both looked to me and small smiles crept onto their faces.  I took a step back.

“Whoa, hold on,” I said with my arms raised defensively in front of me.  “Whatever it is you’re thinking, forget it, no.  I can’t do it.”

“Not alone, anyway,” said Ewan.

“If we get the wereanimals involved, they can do the questioning,” murmured Sullivan.

“So, you’re willing to sacrifice me and some wereanimals but not yourselves?”  I could feel the acid in my voice, but the two dipshits didn’t seem to notice.

“No, you’ll be fine, Olivia,” said Ewan.  “They can’t touch you.”

“Why not?”

“Just trust me.  And they can’t touch the wereanimals either because they’re human and lead human lives.”

“Which means if they get caught,” Sullivan continued, “the fairies can’t kill them because then there would be a human investigation into their deaths.”

“Yes, they couldn’t kill them, but they could do other things to them.”

“That could be a deterrence.”

I was looking back and forth at them as they had their conversation.  I could understand what they were saying, but I wasn’t really following along too well.

“Well, we’ll give them some motivation,” grinned Ewan.

Sullivan grinned back, flashing his fangs.  I took a step back and Sullivan’s smile quickly faded.  He cleared his throat and continued speaking softly.

“You’ll have to be the one to talk to them.  They don’t take threats from anyone else seriously.  Not even Shannon.”

Ewan made a face.  At first I thought it was just merely at the mention of Shannon’s name.  Then he said, “I fucking hate wereanimals.”

“I know, I know.  But they fear you.”

“Hang on guys,” I had to interrupt.  “Let me catch up.  You don’t want to question the fairies directly because they might be involved in the killings.”

“Yes,” they said together.

“So, you’re going to question the underlings instead, but you can’t do that without a risk to your own safety, so you’re going to make the wereanimals do it because they can’t be killed by the fairies because they’re normal citizens like me.”

“Yes.”

“However, the fairies can do other things to them that would make them not want to do this.”

“Yes.”

“So, you’re going to do what to them to motivate them?  If the fairies can still mess with them and you probably can’t do anything worse to them—”

“But we can,” said Sullivan.

“We can kill them,” said Ewan.

“But you just said you couldn’t kill them because they’re human!”

“No, we said the _fairies_ couldn’t kill them.  You see, fairies are straightforward, very blunt.”

“Like a baseball bat to the face,” chimed in Sullivan.

“Don’t believe a single word of any story that says fairies or any of their derivatives are slick when it comes to killing.  Sex, blackmail, tricks: sure they know how to do that.”

“But killing?  They just don’t have finesse,” said Sullivan with a shake of his head.

“Vampires on the other hand, we do death.”

“We actually do it all.”

“Indeed.  And we’re very good at making murders look like accidents.”

“Twenty car pile-ups on the highway.”

“Train derailments.”

“Missed runways.”

“The invention of modern transportation has really made hits easier, wouldn’t you agree, Sullivan?”

“Yes, I would indeed, Ewan.  Much easier.”

I must have had a look of shocked horror on my face because that’s certainly what I was feeling.  The vampires either didn’t notice or didn’t care because they turned away from me and started talking about names, places, and numbers, none of which made sense to me.  I stood by the door as the vampires rummaged around a desk with their backs to me, but I couldn’t compel myself to make a run for it.  I figured they could catch me before I could make it to the elevator anyway.

I moved despairingly back toward the couch and fell onto it in a foggy stupor.  I suddenly got that weird feeling you get when you realize that you really exist.  You know what I mean, right?  Okay, so maybe it’s just me.  The feeling passed in a moment and I looked on Sullivan’s coffee table.  There were several coloring books, but no magazines.  I would have used one of the coloring books to entertain myself, but there weren’t any crayons around.  Instead I began to sift through the files of dead vampires.  There were only first names and yet there were no repeats, not even of the common names.  That was a little odd.

One file in particular caught my eye.  It was a bit thicker than most and had flowers drawn around the name: Geraldine.  I pulled it free and flipped it open.  I had just gotten a glimpse of a picture of a young girl with platinum blonde hair when a hand suddenly snatched the file away.  I jumped and put my hands in the air, trying to appear non-threatening.  Ewan threw the file onto the pile and used both his hands to wave me off the couch.

“Come on, come on, we’ve got to go.  It takes forever for the wereanimals to get together and even longer for them to make a decision.  Let’s get moving.”

I struggled off the couch and headed toward the door as Ewan shepherded me out.  Sullivan walked with us down the hall to the elevator.  He and Ewan spoke softly in some language I didn’t understand while we waited for the lift.  I was going to get annoyed real fast if they kept that up.  The elevator dinged and Ewan all but pushed me on.  Sullivan smiled and waved as the doors closed.

“Try to be nice, Ewan,” he called out as the doors slid home.

My stomach dropped as the floor beneath us dropped.  I clutched my stomach and leaned against the back wall.  Ewan stared at the doors in front of us.

“What were you two talking about it?”

“Ah, nothing important.  He was telling me to at least try to be nice to the weredicks and see if that works first.”

I couldn’t help but smile.  “What, are wereanimals really that bad?”

“In my opinion, yes.  They’re just—stupid.  I mean, they are humans after all.”

I scowled.  “Oh, right, one of _us_.”

Ewan turned and smiled at me.  “At least you understand where you rank.  Most people don’t catch on that fast.  And especially the wereanimals.  They think they’re all cool and stuff, and they’re just the equivalent of a vampire Powerbar.”

“You know, you’re the dick!”

Ewan laughed and the elevator dinged.  The doors slid open and I cringed back into a corner.  There was an audience waiting for us.  Ewan seemed a little surprised by the reception as well.  He turned back to me and offered a hand.  Yeah, right, take comfort from Sprite can eyes?  No way.  I moved away from the wall and walked past Ewan without looking at him.  He followed behind me and the crowd parted to let us through.

There were at least forty people in the lobby, maybe more.  They varied greatly in height, body shape, skin, hair, and eye color, and expression of face.  Some looked happy, some curious, some fearful, but a lot looked angry and bitter.  I also noticed that the majority was male and everyone was stunningly attractive.  I recognized Rosa and her Chihuahua as well as the two EMTs who had picked up Henry’s body from Dr. Melonakos’ office.  The blonde one gave me an encouraging smile as I passed.

As we had walked through the gauntlet of people, whispering had begun and got louder the further we moved away.  Ewan didn’t say a word, but held the door open for me as I passed back out into the real world.  We had gotten maybe twenty steps before the doors opened behind us and a young man came running after us.  I was in the process of turning around when he barreled into me and sent us crashing to the ground.  I had landed nearly flat on my back and wanted to raise a hand to hold my poor head, but my arms were trapped by my attacker.  I felt his legs fall on either side of mine and I looked up to see if Ewan was on his way to helping me or not.

I never made it past the man’s eyes.  They were wide and frightened and beautiful.  His irises were a dusky rose color and his pupils grey.  We stared at each other for a moment and then he suddenly leaned forward and kissed me awkwardly on the mouth.  A fraction of a second later he was jerked off me and I looked up to see Ewan holding the man by his wrist nearly a foot above the ground.  I finally got the chance to rub the back of my head and sat up carefully.  I found that I didn’t really hurt anywhere, but my heart was still hammering away.

I managed to get to my feet just as Ewan set the man on the ground, but retained a firm grip on his wrist.  He stared at me with those bizarre eyes and I felt a mixture of uneasiness and embarrassment.  The kiss had been terribly brief, but I could still feel the lingering warmth of his very soft lips on mine.  I put my hand to my mouth and let my eyes roam over the small man.  He couldn’t have stood more than a couple inches over five feet with a waist that was probably narrower than my own.  Fluffy, grey hair sat atop a very youthful face that appeared to be barely twenty.  A beautiful twenty at that.  I kinda felt like it should have been illegal for me to be attracted to him, but there it was.  He wore dulled, black leather pants, a men’s white dress shirt that was maybe two sizes too big for him, and red flip-flops.

Ewan grabbed the stranger by the chin and turned his head so that he was forced to look at him.  He swallowed a little nervously and then smiled.

“It’s her,” he said in a rich tenor voice that was definitely odd coming out of that petite body.

Ewan gave an exaggerated sigh.  “Yes, it is.  What’s your point?”

The man tried to turn his head, but Ewan held it still.  “You know what this means, right?  Don’t you know, Emanuel?  Remember I told you about my dream.”

“Yes, I remember, Elijah, but trust me, this dream won’t come true.”

The man blinked in astonishment and then jerked violently away from Ewan.  He turned to me and took a step forward.  I took a step back and Ewan wrapped an arm under his chin and pulled back, hard.  Elijah, as I assumed his name to be, gasped and found himself without air.  His hands flew up to Ewan’s arm and he dug his fingers into Ewan’s flesh.  He struggled in vain to get a little breathing room between his delicate neck and Ewan’s unshakable hold.  I felt an urge to tell Ewan to let him go; he hadn’t hurt me after all, but I decided to stay out of it.

“Behave yourself, Elijah, or I will send you to be disciplined by Shannon.”

Elijah choked out an unintelligible answer.  Ewan eased up on his grip so that Elijah could say it again clearer.

“Yeah, like that’s a threat coming from you.”

Ewan smiled and jerked back on Elijah’s neck so hard his head snapped sideways.  I felt my hands jump to cover my mouth and hold in my scream.  I felt a little relief as I realized Elijah was still alive and did not have a broken neck.

“Let him go, Ewan.”

It took me a few moments to realize that it had been I who had spoken.  Ewan let go of him immediately and gave me a look over Elijah’s head.  I couldn’t understand what he meant by it, but Elijah had clearly figured something out.  He spun on Ewan suddenly, rubbing his reddened throat.

“Ewan.  Your name is Ewan.”

Ewan clapped a hand over the smaller man’s mouth and glanced nervously back at the lobby doors.  As far as I could tell we were the only three outside.  Ewan started walking forward, dragging Elijah with him.  He nodded his head toward the garage and I followed, not really knowing what was going on or where else I could go.

We entered the chilly shade of the garage and Ewan was still pushing Elijah and keeping his mouth covered.  He headed toward his sports car, but then turned and walked further into the garage.  The only reason I could think of for change in car choice was that the red car had been a two-seater; or the trunk was too small.  We pulled up beside a white Subaru WRX and Ewan produced a single key from a back pocket.  He unlocked the car and shoved Elijah inside.  I watched the small man clamber over the gearshift and into the backseat.  Then Ewan stepped aside and swung an arm wide, gesturing for me to get in.  I sighed: here we go again.

I got in and Ewan shut the door behind me.  I was very aware of the small, trembling person behind me.  He was cute, but he was kinda freaky.  Ewan started the engine and pealed out of the garage.  I clutched onto the side handle and desperately reached for my seatbelt.  Once it was securely in place, I felt reasonably safe to start asking questions.

“Okay, so what just happened?”


	9. Elijah

We were cruising through the streets of Norfolk at an alarming pace when Ewan finally stopped gnashing his teeth together and acknowledged that there were two other people in the car with him.  He swung onto an on-ramp that indicated we were heading back toward Richmond.  I really wasn’t happy that I was leaving the city without knowing why, but what can you do with two crazy vampires holding you hostage?

“Is he a vampire?” I asked.

“Yes,” Elijah said, leaning forward.  “I’m Elijah.”

He stuck a hand out over the seat and I shook it awkwardly.  I noticed that he had scooted forward quite a bit and couldn’t possibly be wearing his seatbelt.  He put a lot more faith in Ewan than I did.

“I’m—”

“Olivia,” he said for me.  “I know.  I had a dream about you.”

“Really?”

Fan-friggin’-tastic.

“Yes.  You see, in the dream—”

“Do you ever shut-up, Elijah?” Ewan snapped.

“Only when something’s in my mouth.”

Elijah smirked at Ewan in the rearview mirror, but I couldn’t see Ewan’s reaction because he had donned his sunglasses again.  I looked out the window and noticed we were at the tunnel leading out of Norfolk.  Miraculously we clipped along at a swift 55 miles per hour.  Sure, nice traffic for the vampire.  Ewan leaned across me to look in the glove compartment.  He pulled out a packet of gum and tossed it into the backseat.  Elijah picked up the gum and attempted to extract it from its packaging.

“Ewan,” I said, “where are we going and why is he with us?”

“We’re going to talk to the wereanimals, remember?”

“The wereanimals?”  From the backseat.  “I fucking hate wereanimals.”

“The gum, Elijah.  Focus on the gum.  I had Sullivan call ahead so that they would already start gathering.  Since they work normal jobs, it’s harder for them to get together at sudden notice.  However, it’s around noon, so maybe they can get off for lunch or something.”

“Speaking of which,” from the backseat, “I’m starving.”

I glanced back at Elijah.  He grinned at me.  Gosh he was adorable.  And no fangs.

“Don’t, worry, Olivia.  I’m not gonna eat you.  At least, not like that.”  He winked.

I made a face.  “Gross.”  I faced forward.

“Elijah, the gum.”

Ewan swerved around a mini van and gunned the accelerator.  I wonder what he did if cops pulled him over.  Ate them?  And sadly enough, I was hungry too.  Ewan had made me skip breakfast.

“And the reason this bottom feeder is with us is because you had to open your big mouth.”

“Me?”

“Don’t blame her, Emanuel,” said Elijah.  “How would she know?  And man I can’t believe that _you’re_ Ewan.  It’s bit a of a surprise.  Shocking even.  Nigh unbelievable.”

“I get your point, dipshit.”

Elijah snickered and I turned to look at him again.  I meant to ask him about what was going on with the name game, but I was distracted by his odd appearance.  His hair stuck out in several directions and looked exactly like the hair of a man who had gone grey with bits a white streaked through it.  And his eyes were just completely unnatural.  Beautiful, but unnatural.

“Are you really vampire?” I asked him.

“Yes, why do you think I’m not?”

“Then I guess you’re one of those vampires that didn’t start off as a human.”

He cocked his head in confusion and blew a bubble.  It popped and he used his teeth to scrape the sticky residue off his lips.  “All vampires started off as humans.”

I glanced over at Ewan, but he seemed very intent on his driving.  So, I turned back to Elijah.

“Okay, so then what’s with you?  You don’t look human.”

“Well, in these modern times, I do.  I got lucky that times have turned as crazy as they have.  Now people just think I dye my hair and wear colored contacts.  When I was first turned in the 40’s, people didn’t understand what I was or what I had done to myself.”

“But why do you look like that?”

“A mutation, I guess, from when I was turned.  Do you know we change at the genetic level when we turn?”

“Yeah, I learned that yesterday.”

“Well, I guess something went awry with me.  You think the hair and eyes are strange?  I was born in Israel.  My skin was the freakiest thing for me originally.”

I looked at his smooth, milky skin.  That was some mutation.  I couldn’t imagine humans ever mutating in a way that resulted in such extreme changes.

“But, I’ve gotten used to it the last few decades.  I even like it now.”

“Is that all that changed?  Or did your body shape or anything?”

Elijah smiled at me.  “Are you saying that Jews are naturally ugly?”

“I said nothing of the sort and you know it.”

He laughed.  “No, my face and body are the same as when I was human.  But, I had pretty dark skin; and hair and eyes for that matter.”

“Does the light hurt your eyes?”

“No, not really.  Sometimes when I’m out on a boat and the sun reflects off the water it really hurts.  More than it seems to affect other people.”

“Yes, your pupils are lighter in color; that’s a disadvantage.”

“Yeah, but there are a lot of advantages.  Girls really dig the way I look.”

Ewan snorted beside me and I faced front.  I caught a road sign that said we were twenty-two miles from Williamsburg.  We hadn’t been in the car that long; Williamsburg was about forty miles from Norfolk.  I looked at the speedometer: 95.  Holy shit.

“Ewan, slow down, would you?”

He slowed to 93.  Saying his name reminded me of the whole name issue.  My neck was hurting, so I continued to look forward as I asked Elijah, “So, what’s up with the name confusion?  You aren’t the first one to not know Ewan is Ewan.”

I heard Elijah shrug against the leather.  “Names are important to vampires for some reason.  I don’t know all the rules just yet.  I’m still a baby as far as they’re concerned.”

“How old are you?”

“Sixty-something.”

“You don’t know for sure?”

“I forgot.”

“Is that including your time as a human?”

“Oh, no.  Vampires don’t count that time as being _alive_ alive.  It’s like the way humans view unborn babies.”

“How old were you when you were turned into a vampire?”

“Oh, I’m not quite sure.  How old was I, Emanuel?”

“Nineteen.”

I looked at Ewan.  “Did you make him?”

“No,” Elijah answered.  “But he’s my brother.  And our maker always turned all of her children at the same age.  She had a thing for younger men.”

I stared at Ewan.  Nineteen?  He looked my age at the least.  The air wavered around him like heat rising off the pavement.  But it wasn’t hot enough to get that effect.  I shook my head to clear my eyes.  The air was static again.  Ewan jerked the car into the right lane and passed a car going too slowly for him.  Then he swerved back into the left lane and gunned the engine again.  I didn’t dare look at the speedometer this time.

“So, uh, what are we doing with the wereanimals again?”  Keep talking.  Distract yourself from the car melting down into boiling metal.

“We’re getting them to do us a favor,” said Ewan.

I tapped the armrest with my fingers.  I wasn’t really sure I was buying the whole humans with lycanthropy thing.  It just didn’t make any sense.

“Are you sure they’re human?” I asked.  “Conservation of mass states that you can’t have a big hulking animal come out of a scrawny human.”

“Who said they’re hulking?”

“But the fur and claws and teeth.  Those just can’t form from out of no where.”

“That’s why it sucks so much to be a wereanimal,” said Elijah, leaning forward again.  “They actually convert a lot of their inside stuff to make their outside stuff.”

“Huh?”

“What he means,” said Ewan, “is that it is kind of like a fight or flight response.  The body shuts down the uh, the uh, you know the stomach and stuff—”

“The enteric system?”

“Yeah, it shuts down the enteric system and some of the other unnecessary parts of the body and those are used to make the transformation happen.  The whole thing about wereanimals eating all their victims is myth.  I think they’re physically incapable of digesting anything they would have eaten.  They just like to hunt and kill; that’s all.”

“Well, that’s pleasant,” I muttered.  “So, are they very dangerous?”

“That depends.  As people they’re as dangerous as any other human depending on their personality and mental state.  But, when they’re wereanimals they’re really like animals.  So, they can be tamed and controlled as well as any wild animal might.  But as you know with wild animals, even if you befriend them, they may turn on you at the drop of a hat.”

“Yeah,” chimed in Elijah, “they aren’t mindless beasts with nothing on their minds but blood and the kill.  That’s what vampires are like.”  He laughed and Ewan picked up an empty plastic water bottle from a cup holder and threw it at him.

“The real danger,” said Ewan, “is not knowing when they’re going to change.”

I raised an eyebrow.  “I guess the full moon thing is a myth too?”

“Of course.  Come on, Olivia, I thought you would figure that out yourself.  You’re so picky about having a rational, scientific explanation for everything else.”

“Well, it does make some sense.  I mean the moon has a significant effect on the earth and the tides and there have even been studies showing it to have an effect on human moods.”

“True, but the moon is constantly affecting the earth.  That’s why there are high and low tides everyday.  If those same forces were pulling on the wereanimals they might change in and out of form several times a day.  Not very plausible since the transformation is very stressful for their bodies.”

“So how does it work?”

“Kinda like malaria,” said Elijah, which was followed by popping gum.

“Malaria?” I asked.

“Yeah, like a cycle,” he continued a little incomprehensibly as he scraped gum off his lips again.  “They can’t get rid of lycanthropy, they have it for life, but they go through long stretches without being affected and then they suddenly present symptoms, like shape shifting.  But, unlike malaria there isn’t a weird lifecycle involving mosquitoes and livers and erythrocytes.”

I turned to look at Elijah.  “You seem to know a lot about malaria.”

“I did a project on it in high school.”

“So, how do you get it then?”

“It’s hereditary.  I think they’ve found that it’s x-chromosome sex-linked, right, Ewan?”

“Last I heard,” said Ewan.

Hmm.  Lycanthropy was hereditary.  I guess it was comforting to know that a little scratch couldn’t put me in any danger.

Without warning, Ewan wrenched the car onto an exit ramp and slammed on the brakes in order to make it around the curve without rolling the car.  He definitely did not follow the suggested twenty-five miles per hour posted.  Elijah and I were slung to the left side of the car and I fell into Ewan.  We blew past a stop sign and then hung a hard right.  The seatbelt had locked up on me and was now cutting into the side of my neck.  I attempted to move back to my side of the car so that the restraint would not choke me, but then there came another right.

“ _Oy vey ismier_.  Are you trying to kill us?”

Ewan laughed and slowed down to the speed limit.  He said something to Elijah in yet another damn language and I think Elijah answered in the same language, but I recognized the word.

“Schmuck.”

Before I knew it we were turning into a labyrinthine parking lot and somehow there was a great parking space in the packed lot.  Ewan turned off the engine and I glanced around.  A sign in front of us indicated that we only had two hours worth of parking time in Colonial Williamsburg.  I raised an eyebrow.  Ewan turned around in his seat and grabbed Elijah by the collar and hauled him forward.

“Stay here.  Right here, in the back seat.  No feeding, no fighting, no fucking.  You got me?  I want you right here when we get back.”

“Come on, Emanuel, you know you can have me anywhere.”

Ewan gave Elijah’s collar a shake.  “I am not in the mood, Elijah.”

“There are laws against this sort of thing.  You can’t even leave pets locked up in cars.”

“You are not a pet.”

“Aren’t I?”

“No.”

“But, I’m a child.”

“Yes, you are.  Now stay put.  This won’t take long.”

“What do I get in return?”

“Nothing!  You nearly told everyone in the apartment complex what my name is!”

“No, Olivia did.”

“You shouted it.”

“Boys,” I interrupted.  “Come on, are we going to stay in the car and argue the whole time?”

“No,” said Ewan.  “We’re getting out now and he’s staying here.”

“Oh, come on, Emanuel, please, let me come.”

“You don’t even like wereanimals.”

“But I hate being left alone with nothing to do.  And I’m hungry.  Maybe I can feed on one of them.”

Ewan thought for a moment.  “Yeah, sure you can come.  Pick a young one and make it embarrassing.  I love watching them squirm.”

“Yes!” Elijah cried in triumph.

Ewan pulled him close by the collar again.  “You say _one_ word while we’re in there and I will give you a second bris.  You get my meaning?”

Elijah nodded.  “Yeah, I got it.”

Ewan let him go and got out of the car.  I sighed and got out as well.  The parking lot was bustling with activity and I kind of wanted to go explore the nearby historical area.  I had never been to Colonial Williamsburg before.  We walked from the parking between two buildings and came out onto a busy cobblestone street.  It was blocked off from traffic and people were crawling all over the place.  We turned left and at the end of the cobblestone street was a mess of cars that were attempting to navigate a very poorly constructed intersection.  We followed a large group of tourists across the street and I noticed several were young adults wearing backpacks.  The other side was a point with sidewalks branching off into a V.  We took the left sidewalk and I noticed a chest high brick wall that followed us on our right.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s a university,” said Elijah.  “A really old one.  It’s part of the tourist attraction.”

“That must be unfortunate for the students.”

Elijah shrugged in order to not commit himself to an answer.  I looked around me and noticed several more people running around with books and notebooks and even a musical instrument or two.  Ewan stopped beside a break in the wall that opened up to a pathway leading to what must have been the campus.  He glanced around to see if people were watching us.  And they were; they were mostly staring at Elijah.  Then a girl with cherry-red hair dressed all in black passed us and suddenly he didn’t seem that out of place.

Ewan nodded to Elijah and then the young vampire grabbed onto the wall and hopped over.  I thought that was silly since the opening was right there.  I glanced around the wall to see what he was doing and saw a set of stairs leading down into the ground.  An iron fence barred the entrance and was chained shut.  It looked like the passage had not been used for some time.  I straightened, confused.

“This is a bit obvious, don’t you think?”

Ewan pointed to the other side of the street where another gated entrance was located.  “It used to be a tunnel under the street to the other side.  I think it got too dangerous to use anymore, so it was closed and no one is allowed to use it anymore.  The wereanimals have a meeting room built off the tunnel somewhere.  I think it actually corresponds with those old houses over there,” he said, indicating some buildings on the campus.

I looked around us, there were people everywhere.  I didn’t see how we could possibly get inside the tunnel without someone seeing us.  I still wasn’t sure that nobody had seen Elijah go over.  I felt Ewan’s hand on my shoulder.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready for what?”

I gasped in complete surprise—some instincts I have— as he grabbed me around the waist and dumped me over the side.  I landed on my feet, barely, and Ewan landed beside a moment later.  He grabbed my hand and led me down into the graffiti scarred passage.  As soon as we made it into the tunnel, it went pitch black.  I looked back just to make sure that the sunlight was still trickling down the stairs.  I faced forward again and a hand pulled down on my neck and I stumbled forward into someone’s lips.  I put out a hand and pushed back.

“Elijah!” I heard Ewan say irritably.  Suddenly the hand and lips were gone.  “Knock it off or I will send you back to the car.  Actually, I’ll send you back to God, got it?”

“Alright, alright.  Get your nuts out of a twist.  She’s just smells _so_ good.”

There was a scuffle and then stumbling feet as I just managed to see Ewan push the young vampire forward.  My eyes had finally adjusted somewhat to the dark and I could see that the passage that led across the street branched right from where we stood.  We were actually heading further down into the ground.  Ewan offered a hand back to me and I took it only because I really couldn’t see too well.  And well, you know, pride goeth before the fall.

We descended into the thick darkness and the sounds from above gradually faded away to nothing.  I felt Ewan lead me to the left and we walked down a completely dark passage for a few yards.  Then I heard Elijah, or I assumed it was Elijah, fiddling with something metal.  Then a door opened and light spilled into the hallway.  I raised a hand to protect my eyes, and I noticed that the vampires seemed unaffected.  We walked through the door and entered an electrically lighted chamber with several chairs.  It looked like it was a waiting room.  At the far end was another door and in front of it stood a tall, muscular man.  He was wearing really tight jeans and a cutoff tank top.  His hair and eyes were dark brown and he had a very nasty scowl on his face.  He looked like a bouncer at a VIP club.

Elijah had stopped in front of the man, but Ewan attempted to reach for the door.  The man reached out a hand to stop him, but Ewan moved out of his reach.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait here until I receive confirmation that you can go in.”

Ewan blinked.  “Move.”

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait.”

“You only get one more warning after this one, son.”

“Look, I’m Ted of the Furball Clan and you can’t—”

“Yeah, well, I’m Ewan of the I Don’t Give a Fuck Clan.  Now, move out of my way before I make it physically possible for you to go fuck yourself.”

Elijah made a tsking sound behind us.  “You used the same curse word twice in one insult.  That’s not very creative.”

Ewan looked at the ceiling and let the air out of his lungs in a loud sigh.  “Do you remember what I said about you and words and this place?”

I glanced back at Elijah and he had his hands in the air in surrender.  I smiled at him and he brightened considerably.  I realized it was very, very bad for me to think of him as cute and playful because those things were often equated with innocence.  And that was something I should never associate with any of these people.  I turned forward and the bouncer was opening the door.  He stepped through first and muttered something about announcing us.

The passage was lighted, but fairly long.  I wondered where exactly we were in relation to the world above.  Suddenly the hallway opened up into a large chamber where a fair sized group of people were talking.  The chatter died immediately and they looked over at us as we stepped into the room.  A tall, handsome black man stepped forward and addressed the bouncer.

“I thought you were to announce their arrival, Ted,” he said smoothly, unperturbed, as he ran his hands down the front of a dark business suit.  He wore a red necktie with lion cubs all over it.  Cute.

“My apologies, sir, but _Ewan_ insisted on coming straightaway.”

Buzzing broke out in the group and I heard Ewan’s name whispered in tones of anger, fear and awe.  I was so confused.  Just what exactly was it about this guy?  I didn’t notice anything special.  Really.

“Why have you come?” asked a woman in a grey skirt suit.  “Sullivan called us.”

I did a double take as I looked at her.  For a second there I had thought it was Danica Springs.  She had the same mouse hair pulled tight in a bun, and a severe face that masked some of her natural beauty.  As I took a better look, I realized it was not Danica, but it could have been her sister.

“Yes, Sullivan called,” said Ewan, “but I don’t believe he said that he was coming, did he?”

“Well, he didn’t say the Prince of Darkness was coming,” said a young teenage girl from the back.

Someone next to her elbowed her hard in the ribs.  Ewan had merely smiled at the insult.

“Oh, wouldn’t Shannon have loved that,” he murmured to himself.  Louder he said, “Look, we’re here for a favor.”

“A favor?” scoffed the black man.  “You’re here to give us an order.  Favors imply that there will be some reciprocation of help at a future date.  We’re still waiting to be paid back for the hundreds of other favors we’ve done in the past.”

“You’re still alive, aren’t you?”  Ewan’s voice was as smooth as the scales of a shark: one wrong turn and it would cut.  “We have then, in fact, returned our favors adequately.”

“We will not live with your blackmail forever,” he said, not backing down.

I liked this guy.  He was determined and very brave.  Or was that stupid?

“That’s true, you won’t.  You’ll die one day, and I’ll just have to continue blackmailing your children and your children’s children.”

I saw the muscles in the man’s jaw flex as he clenched his teeth together.  I turned my head slightly toward Ewan and said as softly as I could, “I thought you were supposed to try being nice first.”

“I am being nice,” he said, voice full of irritation.

“State your terms, Ewan,” said the man, “and we’ll discuss them and get back to you as soon as we can.”

“Come now, Lenny, what happened to all that bothersome protocol your people are so fond of?”

“Leonard,” he corrected sharply.  He stepped away from the group and in full light I could tell that his head was clean shaven and he had a large diamond stud in each ear.  He raised his left arm a little and shook his wrist, causing his expensive looking watch to fall into place.

“Forgive me, Leonard, but there won’t be any stating of terms followed by a discussion that takes weeks to resolve to the point that you _will_ help us.  We’ll merely tell you what we want and you’ll do it.”

Leonard started to say something, but a nervous looking man in a grey suit stepped forward and grabbed his arm.  He was nearing fifty and showed the wear and tear of a life that had not been easy.  He pulled back on Leonard’s arm and shook his head.  When he spoke, his voice was soft and timid.

“Just listen to him.  Do what he wants.  It’ll be easier on all of us.”

“We can’t let them walk all over us, Paul, not anymore.”

“But—”

“He’s right, Leonard,” said a busty woman removing herself from the crowd.  She stood beside Leonard on his other side and eyed Ewan quite openly.  Her skirt and jacket were very business-like, but the slit in the skirt went nearly to her waist the shell under the jacket barely covered any of her ample bosom.  She had bold, red hair cut in a very trendy and fashionable style.  Her eyes were blue and stood out in her handsome face even in the dim light.

“Right about what?” Leonard got out between clenched teeth.

“There is protocol to obey.”

“Protocol?  That damned protocol is one of the reasons we’re the laughing stock of the Underground.  It’s time we started acting like rational people rather than instinct driven animals.”

“Mom, that vampire’s looking at me.”

I glanced to my left and saw the cute, blonde teenager that had called Ewan the “Prince of Darkness.”  I glanced behind me and saw Elijah raise his middle and index fingers and then stick his tongue in between them at the girl.  She made an outraged noise and a woman stepped forward and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“That is uncalled for; keep your lackey under control.”

“My lackey?” asked Ewan.  He turned to Elijah and held out a hand.  Elijah twined his fingers with Ewan’s and sidled up against the taller man.  “This is my dear, beloved brother.  How dare you insult him?”

The woman took in a breath and glared at the two vampires.  I turned to look at them in just enough time to catch the brief kiss Ewan slid across Elijah’s lips.  They faced their audience and I could feel that the tension had risen in the room.  They were trying to unnerve the wereanimals.  And it had to be working because I felt a little unnerved myself.

“How will you make amends for this transgression?” asked Ewan, his voice somehow reflecting a perfect mixture of confusion and hurt.  What an act.

“There is nothing to amend,” hissed the woman.

“No,” said Leonard, looking Ewan straight in the eyes, “according to protocol we have insulted one of the brethren who have been sent here under the protection of the First Treaty.  We must honor him in some way.”

“He’s lying,” someone said from the back.

“I suggest you keep your mouth shut before we must correct two injuries.”  Leonard’s voice was frozen with carefully controlled rage.

Ewan smiled.  “You do it to yourselves.”

“Not for much longer.”

“So,” said Ewan, looking down at Elijah, “what do you want from them?”

Elijah looked out at the pack of people.  “I’m hungry,” he whispered.

It even sent a chill down my spine the way his sweet voice had breathily uttered those words.  I could only imagine what _they_ must be feeling.  In theory he was about to eat one of them.  The tension had risen even higher in the room.  It was starting to get hard to breathe.

“Take your pick, brother,” said Ewan, “but remember, this is just a snack.  Veins only.”

Elijah pouted, but nodded and started forward.  The wereanimals tensed and some took a step backward.  Elijah strolled past Leonard and looked at the tall man.  He had to bend his head back at a pretty extreme angle in order to see his face.  He reached a hand out and led it trail over the man’s arm.  His pale skin was a startling contrast to Leonard’s dark suit.  But, he kept walking into the crowd.  He swayed in and out of the people, causing each one to hold their breath as he passed.  Then he walked directly toward the blonde teenager.  As he approached her mother jumped in front of her.

“You will not have her, you monster!”

I heard Elijah’s soft hiss and though the woman looked scared, she held her ground.  Elijah moved forward and pushed her gently aside.  The woman offered no resistance, but looked prepared to start yelling at him until he pushed her daughter aside too.  He walked up to a young man who had been standing in the very back.  He didn’t look old enough to be of legal drinking age, and I just hoped that he was old enough that whatever was about to happen would be between legal, consenting adults.

Elijah took the young man’s hand in his own and walked backward, leading the scared looking kid back to where Ewan and I stood.  Elijah had done quite a nice job picking his chosen meal: he was lean and muscular and cute in that college freshman sort of way.  He had short dirty blonde hair and stood about four inches taller than Elijah, which put his neck at perfect level with the vampire’s mouth.

Elijah pulled on the man’s hand until they stood inches apart and then he slid his hands slowly up his chest, eliciting a shiver from his victim.  A high heel clacked on the concrete floor and the woman who looked like Danica stepped forward.

“You will not use my son as an appetizer.  Jared, come here!”

I looked over at Jared, but he didn’t seem to be aware of anything but Elijah.  His mother took another step forward, but Leonard stopped her.

“Don’t you dare let this happen!” she shouted at him.

I looked back at the young vampire and he had one hand around Jared’s waist and the other buried in his hair.  Elijah turned the man’s head slightly and leaned forward.  As his lips made contact with his victim’s skin, Jared put out a hand to push back on Elijah’s shoulder and his mother tried to escape Leonard’s grip.  Neither succeeded in their goal and Jared’s hand relaxed, and then suddenly gripped Elijah’s shirt, twisting the cloth as he shut his eyes and sucked in a sharp breath.  I thought maybe Elijah had bitten down, and without fangs it had hurt, but Jared didn’t really seem to be in any pain.  It appeared to be quite to the contrary.

Elijah’s jaw was working hard at Jared’s neck and the gap between their bodies had disappeared.  Jared’s other arm was now wrapped around Elijah’s waist and holding the vampire tightly against him.  Elijah pulled away and Jared opened his eyes, breathing hard with excitement.  I saw that Elijah had merely given him a hickey.

“What is this?” cried Jared’s mother.  “Stop playing games.”

“I’m just softening the skin and getting the blood flowing so that it will be less painful for him,” shrugged Elijah.  “If you want, I can just tear into him now.”

The woman clamped her mouth shut, but her eyes were glittering in the orangey lights.  She actually looked a little frightening.  I wondered how you could tell if a wereanimal was about to change and if anger or other strong emotions could induce spontaneous transformation.  Neither vampire seemed concerned and Elijah returned to his work.

He ran his tongue slowly up the length of Jared’s neck and the man shuddered and closed his eyes again.  Then I saw Elijah turn the young man’s head further to the left and bared his fangs.  I blinked.  Elijah had full length fangs much like Sullivan’s.  Then I remembered how his incisors had looked like Ewan’s who’s had looked like Henry’s.  All three of theirs had looked like the tips of Sullivan’s fangs.  They didn’t file them down; their bloody fangs were retractable.

I looked sidelong at Ewan.  “Liar,” I muttered.  Ewan seemed engrossed by what the other vampire was doing, but one corner of his mouth twitched up slightly.  Jerk.

Then I saw Elijah make contact.  His fangs slid in like a knife through warm butter.  Then he pulled back and his fangs disappeared.  As the blood appeared, Elijah covered the holes with his mouth and started to suck.  I guess the contemporary myth that vampires left ragged bite marks was not true in the least.  All that would give evidence to Elijah’s entry would be two elliptical holes in the side of his neck.  And maybe a hickey.

I shifted my weight as Jared suddenly let out, for lack of a better description, a guttural moan.  His knees gave out and since Elijah was too little to support his weight, they fell to their knees.  The vampire leaned forward and Jared fell to his back, with Elijah still attached at the neck.  His hands were gripping and twisting Elijah’s clothes, his face contorted in very un-general audience movie-like expressions.  Since Elijah was shorter than him, the vampire was straddling Jared’s waist, leaving the young man’s hips exposed.  It was very plain that Jared was very excited by the whole affair.

“I guess this answers your question,” whispered Ewan.

“About the feeding being like sex?” I whispered back.  “Oh, yeah.”

I looked away from them and saw that the room was in various states of discomfort.  Most were looking at the floor with flushed cheeks or with expressions of anger and disgust.  A few were staring at the scene and shifting their weight.  Jared’s mother was torn between looking at her son and looking at the ceiling.

A sudden cry from Jared made me look back at the two men on the ground.  I wished that I hadn’t.  Things were starting to get very awkward.  Jared’s breathing, which had quickened as things had progressed, was now slowing and coming at irregular intervals.  The light fell on his face and I saw that his pupils had shrunk to nothing, leaving only the wide, unseeing blue of his irises.  It kinda freaked me out.  Jared’s mother must have felt the same way because she attempted to pull away from Leonard again and shouted, “Stop him!”

Ewan stepped forward and leaned down to brush his knuckles against Elijah’s cheek.  The younger vampire sat up with a satisfied moan and placed a hand over the wound to staunch the blood flow.  The room began to collectively breathe again and I felt my own chest loosen somewhat.  I was a little concerned by the fact that the scene had not disturbed me more.

                “Mmm.”

                I watched on, completely unable to look away.  Train wrecks and all that.  Elijah was panting softly and his lids were heavy with what looked like post-coital bliss.  Gross.  Blood was squeezing out around the edges of Elijah’s fingers, and I realized that he wasn’t putting enough pressure on the wound.  I went to Jared’s side and knelt down, moving Elijah’s hands as I did so.  The wound was not as bad as I feared and I realized that a little more time and pressure would probably be enough to prevent further blood loss.

                “Stay away from him!”

I looked up and saw Jared’s mother straining against Leonard and yelling at me.  I sat back a little, and Ewan took a step forward.

“She’s a doctor,” he said, moving to stand between the three of us on the floor and the poor victim’s irate mother.

“I don’t care what you monsters claim to be!  I don’t want her to touch my son!”

“Becca,” Leonard said, yanking on her arm, “certainly you can tell that she’s not a vampire.  She’s completely human.  You could smell her from fifty yards off.”

Smell me?

“It doesn’t matter.  She’s working with the monsters; that’s just as bad.”

I would have protested, but I guess I technically was working with them...maybe?

“Olivia, I got it.”

I looked at Elijah and he pushed me back gently.  He leaned over Jared and then bit down on the tip of his tongue.  I squirmed a little as I saw the flesh break and the young vampire allowed a few drops of his blood to fall onto Jared’s wound.  Then he touched his tongue to the wound and licked away the blood.  What remained behind on Jared’s neck was nothing more than two pale pink, round marks.  That was a neat trick.

Jared seemed to have reasonably recovered from the ordeal and was breathing normally and looking around the room with alert, focused eyes.  He seemed a little disoriented, but unafraid.  Leonard still held onto Jared’s mother, but I could tell she was getting ready to claw his eyes out if he didn’t let her go soon.  Ewan moved to stand in front of them and spoke to them as if they were the only people present in the room.

“Mr. King, Ms. Forsythe, I think before this situation escalates to something you may end up regretting, we should adjourn to a different room and discuss the proposition I have come to offer you and your people.”

“I am not leaving my son alone with that demon,” Becca Forsythe spat at Ewan.

“He won’t be alone,” Ewan replied, unimpressed with the woman’s venom, “they will be watched over by the rest of the rabble in this room.  As a sort of insurance.  If they try to do anything while we’re talking, Elijah will kill your son.  But, of course, if he does kill your son, then I think forty wereanimals should be able to handle one vampire and I will lose my dear brother.”

Elijah said something in another language; he sounded irritated.  Ewan didn’t respond.

“So if your people leave us alone while we talk and don’t bother Elijah, Elijah won’t gut your son.”

“I wouldn’t gut him,” said Elijah from the floor.  “That would be too fast.”

I reflexively hit him in the arm.  He let out a whiney “ow” as he rubbed his arm and glared at me.

“Olivia,” Ewan called to me, “come with us please.”

Gladly.  Anything to put myself in a room with less weird things than there were in this room was a good idea to me.  I stood up and followed Leonard King as he lead Becca Forsythe, Ewan, and me from the room through a door at the back of the room.  Another man joined in the procession and Ewan didn’t seem to mind his presence.  I glanced back just as I went through the door and saw that Elijah still straddled the poor little wereanimal and everyone in the room was torn between watching us and the vampire in the front of the room.  The door slammed behind me and I jumped behind Ewan.  If they killed him first, I might have a chance to explain that I wanted nothing to do with any of this.

This room was considerably better lit and furnished as well.  Portraits done in oil filled the walls and a brass plaque hung underneath each one.  The floor was covered in a large, thick throw rug nearly wall to wall.  The room was averaged-sized, nothing too big, but roomy enough to have a circular table with several chairs around it in the center of the room as well as a full-sized refrigerator in one corner.  The stranger walked to the refrigerator and I looked at the portrait nearest to me on the wall.  It was a small picture, but finely done and very lifelike.  It only showed the neck and head of the woman, but she looked beautiful and elegant.  Her dark skin contrasted against a light background and her dark, dark eyes seemed a touch melancholy.  The plaque beneath it read: Jacinda Brown, 1952-1976, 108th.  108th what?  I looked at the dates again.  If those were birth and death, she had only lived to be 24.  Hopefully the dates meant something else.

I looked back toward the room as a flying object caught my attention.  Leonard caught a bottle of beer smoothly in one hand and Becca raised her hands defensively in front of her.

“Don’t throw it,” she said.

The stranger held onto the bottled water in his hand and looked me.  “You want something?” he asked.

It really was amazing.  Either moving a couple hundred miles south had really made a difference or the Underground was just full of hospitable people.  I shook my head in answer and the stranger pulled out another bottle of beer.  He set the bottled water on the table, but Becca didn’t move to pick it up.  The man rummaged through a drawer in a dresser that sat adjacent to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle opener.  He jimmied the cap off his beer and tossed the opener to Leonard.  The stranger smiled at Ewan.

“Sorry we don’t have anything to offer you,” he said as he raised the bottle to his lips.

“Well, actually, you do,” said Ewan softly.  A chill went down my spine at the tone in his voice and the stranger had a little difficulty swallowing his beer.  Becca pulled out a chair and sat down in a huff.  She opened her water and sighed dramatically.

“Can we get started or are you two going to play your little mind games like always?  And you know you’ll lose like you always do, Macaulay.  Today you need to just get over yourself so that we can get business done and get these monsters out of here and away from my son.”

The man named Macaulay sat with a thump in one of the wooden chairs, narrowing his blue eyes at the irksome vampire.  He looked to be in his early thirties and wore an inexpensive blue suit.  He had blonde hair so dark it was nearly brown and he gave the impression that he was a very bright young man who had somehow gotten caught in a desk job that was heading no where.

“You know,” said Ewan, pulling a chair out backwards and straddling it, “it’s funny to hear you talk that way, Ms. Forsythe.  Especially considering the way you yelled at your sister just last Christmas.”

“Leave my sister out of this.”

“It is strange, being born to a family full of wereanimals and then she herself merely being a carrier for the disease.  And even though she was raised to understand that it’s something her family can’t control and that they are good, honest people, she still rejected all of you and calls you all monsters.”

“She is wrong for thinking that way!  We don’t have a choice in our condition anymore than someone with color blindness does!  Vampires, however, are monsters because they choose to become so!”

I cringed as Ewan smiled: so sweet, so lovely, so hateful.

“Not all vampires are given that choice, Ms. Forsythe.”  He turned to me, the smile thankfully gone, “Now maybe you can understand why Danica is the way she is.  With a woman like this for an older sister, who can blame her for turning out so mean?”

“You know Danica?” the woman asked me.

“I, uh–” I stuttered.  I didn’t know what to say.  This was Danica Springs’ sister?  Danica was a wereanimal?

“Yes, she met Danica just yesterday in fact.  You see, Olivia, Danica is a carrier for lycanthropy, but does not have it herself.  She in fact hates her family and was crushed when she learned she would pass on this horrible disease to her children.  That’s why she married Mr. Springs and adopted his children.”

I didn’t know what to say.  This was all very personal information.  And I was forced to wonder again if Danica and Ewan truly knew each other and if Director Douglas knew this and was in fact himself a wereanimal or vampire or something else.  Was I being set up?  Was I the only normal person left in the world?  I jumped as Leonard thumped his beer on the table.  He sat down and glared at Ewan.

“Look, we’re not here for a personal history lesson.  Just tell us what you want.”

Ewan shrugged.  “Okay, okay.  Business as usual.  But, I want to inform you now that whatever I say here is to be kept here and no one else is to know of it.  And I will find out if you tell someone else.  And I won’t kill you if you do.”

Ewan let his words hang thickly in the air.  It didn’t sound like much a threat to me, but by the way the three other occupants of the room shifted, I could tell they knew better than I what Ewan might do as an alternative to death.

“If any of you wish to not participate in this as a result of that, leave now.”

No one budged and I got the feeling that leaving wasn’t _really_ an option.  Ewan turned to me again and nodded toward a chair.  I sat because I didn’t know what else to do.  Ewan began.

“Since 1951 there has been a serial murderer stalking the vampire community.  He has been very successful in his attempts and up until very recently we were unable to determine how his most recent killings were being done.”

“Whoa, whoa,” said Macaulay, raising a hand, “you’re saying someone figured out a way to kill you bastards and you don’t know who or how?”

Ewan looked at the man.  “Yes,” he said flatly.

Macaulay seemed irritated that his jab had not bothered Ewan.  He settled back in his chair and took another sip of his beer.

“We believe that the killer is now using a fairy that can somehow get inside our brains and kill us by destroying brain tissue.  We know fairies alone would not be doing this, so we need your help in identifying which fairies are doing it and who they’re working for.”

“How do you know they’re working for someone?” Macaulay burst out again.  “Maybe they don’t like you anymore than anybody in the Underground.”

“Mac,” said Ewan, drawing an angry look from the man, “the entire Underground doesn’t dislike vampires, the entire Underground dislikes wereanimals.  Because you’re a bunch of sick humans who like to pretend you’re important.  Now, this gorgeous creature beside me is Olivia Mae Milligan.”

There he goes with the middle name again.

“She is an employee of the FBI and as such will be able to help get access to the information you will need to track down this killer.”

“Fairies and anything regarding them is not knowledge that is known to the FBI,” said Leonard.

“No, but whoever the fairies are working for is.  Which means even if they are not a United States citizen, they’ll be here on a VISA or green card or something else that you can use to identify and locate them.”

“Do you think it is a rogue fairy,” asked Becca, “or does this go all the way to the top, to one of the kings or queens?”

“We also need you to find that out.  If it’s a rogue fairy it won’t be hard to deal with him or her.  But if it is a ruler of some kind, it will be a bit trickier.  First though, I need you to do the research to find out what kind of fairies have the ability to go past a physical barrier and get inside a brain.  I was told that all phasing fairies died with the Caesars.”

Leonard shrugged.  “Maybe they picked up a few tricks from your kind and started spreading false rumors.”

Ewan shrugged back and put his chin on his arms.  Becca finally opened her water and took a small sip.  I felt kind of silly being there, I didn’t really have a reason to be.

“This must be bad, huh?” said Macaulay.  “If you’re desperate enough to come to us for help.”

“Desperate?” asked Ewan with a smile as he raised his head.  “No, not desperate.  We’re dealing with fairies here.  And you know how the monarchs can get when their people get messed with.  We’re using you as a buffer because they can’t harm you without arousing suspicions.  Us on the other hand, they might just end up helping our killer out of spite.”   

“Okay,” said Leonard, “you’ve told us what you want, what do we get out of it?”

“Nothing.  You’re helping us because I’m telling you to.”

I raised my eyebrows.  Not the most diplomatic approach he could have taken.

Macaulay apparently didn’t think so either and flew to his feet and pounded a fist on the table.  “We’re not you’re lackeys!  We’re human beings and we do not have to do your dirty work!”

Ewan gave a soft laugh and smiled very intimately at the man.  “I thought you liked doing my dirty work, Mac.”

Macaulay flushed red, but stood his ground.  “Look, we can’t help you, okay?  The fairies don’t talk to us and we don’t even know where to begin looking for them.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”  Ewan dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper.  He tossed it on the table.  “That’s Olivia’s phone number.  When you have a useful starting point, let her know and involve her in all of your investigations.”

Ewan rose gracefully and headed for the door.

“Why don’t you get Shannon to fix this?” Macaulay shouted, still intent on getting his people out of the situation.

Ewan sighed.  “Look, you don’t understand what Shannon is.  He doesn’t have that power.  He doesn’t really have any power.  So, do your homework and be in touch.”

“Do we have a time frame?” asked Leonard.

“Yesterday,” Ewan said as he turned the handle.  “And remember, no one knows about this.”  He opened the door and I stood up so I could follow him out.

“Let us get Scott involved,” Leonard suddenly called out.

Ewan slammed the door shut and turned to face the wereanimals.  His eyes were shining with some emotion I couldn’t quite identify.  “No,” he said, very carefully.

“He’s the lore master.  He’s the one who keeps track of all that kind of stuff.  We’d have to go to him even if we don’t tell him what’s going on.  And you know he’s not dumb.  He’ll figure out something’s up and it will just be easier if he knows from the start.”   

Ewan made a face.  “All right, fine.  But only him.  Do not get his siblings involved.  Especially Greenlee, do you understand me?”

Leonard raised his arms in the air.  “I wouldn’t get Greenlee involved even if you asked me to.”

“Good man,” Ewan said as he opened the door again.  “Olivia, move it.”

I stopped moving and looked at the vampire.  “Excuse me?” I asked.

“Please,” he added belatedly.

I glared at him but moved toward the door because I didn’t think staying in that room for much longer would be a good idea.  I thought I could actually see a vein popping out on Macaulay’s head.  Ewan gave a curt, mocking bow to the occupants and kissed the air in the blonde’s direction.  I didn’t wait to see his reaction, but hurried back out into the main room.  The chatter died down at our arrival and I heard Becca run out after us.

Elijah was still straddling Jared, and the blonde chick who had been so indignant before had joined them.  She was straddling Jared as well and she and the vampire were making out.  Jared seemed to be uninvolved in the whole process and had his arms crossed in annoyance.  I looked around the room to see if her mother was allowing this, but I didn’t see her.  The crowd had thinned somewhat since our departure.

Ewan grabbed Elijah by the collar of his shirt and hauled him off the humans.  He came up with a squawk of surprise and then smiled like a devilish sheep at his mentor.  We headed back out the way we came in and the girl called out for Elijah to call her.  We passed Ted on the way out and also saw several of the older wereanimals, including the blonde’s mom, socializing in the first room we had come through.  They all stopped talking and glared at us as we made our way to the tunnel.

Inside the darkness of the tunnel, Ewan again took my hand and guided me.  I breathed a sigh of relief to be on my out of the creepy, wereanimal lair.  I felt Elijah take my hand behind me and didn’t know if I should try to shake him off or not.  In the silence of the tunnel I felt compelled to talk, which is a bad trait I’m discovering.

“So, what did you do to Macaulay that makes him hate you so much?”

“I slept with his wife.”

I made a noise of disgust.  “Why?  Just because he’s a wereanimal and you fucking hate wereanimals?”

We came to the foot of the stairs and the sunlight made me squint and look down.  The sounds of people talking and laughing floated down from above.

“Well, thank you for sharing your high opinion of me,” said Ewan.  “I didn’t know she was married at the time.  If anything, he should be mad at her.  She, after all, knew she was married.”

“Yeah, but you did give her the best sex of her life,” said Elijah, “and everything after you would just never compare and as such she found her husband completely inadequate and they divorced two months after you dumped her.”

“That wasn’t my fault either,” said Ewan.

I looked back and forth between the two vampires.  “Are you guys making this up?  I mean seriously.  Ewan was so good that everybody else pales in comparison?”

“Well, have you ever had sex with him?” asked Elijah.

“No, have you?”

“Regrettably, no,” Elijah sighed wistfully.

“I appreciate the fact that the two of you are intrigued by my sexual prowess, but we’ve got to get going.”

I turned to say something nasty to him, but my stomach suddenly rumbled and gurgled very loudly.  I put my hands over my stomach and looked down at it.  I looked back up at the vampires.

“Hungry?” asked Elijah.

“The college’s campus center is across the street,” said Ewan.  “You can get something to eat in there.”

“But how are we going to get there?” I asked, thinking of how we were going to get out the entrance without being noticed.  The two vampires looked at me like I was insane.

“Walk,” said Elijah.  He started up the stairs and then grabbed onto the top of the wall and hauled himself over.  I started up the stairs and saw people passing in front of us through the barred gate.  Suddenly Ewan put his hands on my waist and threw me over the wall.  I fell into Elijah and we stumbled into a crosswalk.  Fortunately the cars in the area seemed to be used to college students just stepping off into the street out of nowhere and stopped for us.  Ewan caught up with us and we crossed the street.  I looked around us: no one seemed to notice where we had come from.  Although Elijah was getting weird looks again.

The campus center was made of brick, as were most of the college buildings, and inside on the first floor was a small food court type cafeteria.  Two major chain fast food restaurants had counters set up, but the remaining four were places I had never heard of.  The vampires told me they were going to find a table out in the seating area and left me alone.  It was kind of weird standing in the thinning lunch crowd of college students.  I hadn’t been to undergraduate school in several years and for some reason all the kids looked just like that: kids.  I felt so old all of a sudden.  I scowled and got in a line offering pita wraps.

Ten minutes later I found myself being waved at very enthusiastically by Elijah.  I carried my tray to the table they had chosen and sat down across from them.  Elijah had a cup in front of him with a pink substance inside that he was trying very determinedly to suck up through a straw.  It was a strawberry smoothie.

“Um, are you sure you can eat that?” I asked.

“No, he can’t,” said Ewan.  “You’re going to regret this later.”

“I know, but I can’t help it!  I love strawberries.  And besides, it’s nature’s fault for leaving our taste buds intact.  This moment of joy will make up for the pain later.”

I hitched an eyebrow and made a face.  I knew that the manner in which that smoothie would be exiting his body would not be a pleasant one.  It was apparent from vampire anatomy that he had no way to digest the stuff and it would have to come out the way it went down.  But, for now, Elijah was happily slurping away at it.

I ate in silence for many minutes as they just watched me.  It was kind intimidating to watch them watch me, but I, in a very rare instance, had nothing to say.

“So, how long have you known that guy?” asked Ewan.

“Who?” I asked.

“Who, Jared?” Elijah asked.  “A little over a year now.”

“I thought you hated wereanimals,” Ewan said, leaning back in his chair.

“I do.  But, I love sluts.  And he’s real easy.”

“You know Jared?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s why I chose him to feed on.  Because I knew he wouldn’t be frightened.  I feed on him a lot.  He really likes it.  I think he might be addicted.”

“So, maybe you should stop,” suggested Ewan.

“No way.  You know how hard it is to find willing prey.”

I glanced around to make sure there weren’t people nearby who might be listening to our conversation.  Elijah sucked away at his smoothie, his cheeks forming hollows as he struggled to get the viscous substance moving.  Ewan laughed at him and leaned forward to grab a napkin.  He started to tear it up into little pieces.

“I still can’t get over the fact that you’re Ewan,” said Elijah suddenly.  “I mean, you’ve always been Emanuel.  And Ewan was a just some fantastic bedtime story.  I always imagined meeting him, but certainly not like this.”

Ewan shrugged.  “You can call me Ewan now.  But, only when we’re alone.  Or with Olivia, Shannon, Aiden, Sullivan, Aislinn, or Henry–”

Ewan cut off suddenly and stared at the napkin pieces on the table.  Elijah looked at me and swallowed.  Then he put on an offended face.

“What?  Are you telling me that Sullivan knows you’re Ewan?  Do any of our brothers know?”

“No,” said Ewan, shaking himself and focusing on Elijah.  “None of them know, so keep your mouth shut, okay?  I think Daniel suspects the truth, but don’t give him any affirmations, okay?”

Elijah nodded.  “You got it, my mouth is sealed.”

“Great.  Now the entire complex will know by nightfall.”

“No they won’t!  I promise I’ll keep quiet.  And I won’t even ask for a sexual favor in exchange.”  He grinned and winked at the older vampire and Ewan tried hard not to smile.  I realized I was trying hard not to smile either.

“Why do you care about sex so much?” I asked, trying to get myself to focus on their negative characteristics before I accidentally allowed myself to start liking them.

“Just so you know, Olivia, asking a sixty year old vampire why he likes sex so much is like asking a sixteen year old human why he likes sex so much.”

“Ah,” I said in understanding.  “Gotcha.”

A girl wearing a T-shirt with Asian characters printed on it walked by our table and Elijah suddenly remembered this one time, in Central Asia...and he talked for the next half hour, pausing only to sip on his smoothie.  After hearing about how he was birthing a baby cow helping a friend and as such missed the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Ewan stood up and demanded we leave before Elijah started on his Communism speech.

“It’s not a speech,” protested Elijah as we dumped our trash on the way out.  “It’s an opinion.  And I’m entitled to have mine, just like you.”

We left the campus center and turned right in order to head back toward the car.

“Wrong,” said Ewan, “You aren’t allowed to have an opinion as long as I say I don’t agree with it.”

“That’s not very fair,” I said, more to aggravate Ewan than to support Elijah.

“See!  Olivia’s on my side.”

“No she’s not.  She’s just trying to piss me off.”

I scowled.  Was I that transparent?  Ewan and Elijah continued their debate across the street and through the parking lot.  When we reached the car, Ewan rolled his eyes and stuck his hand in his pocket, searching for the key.  I turned to look at Elijah who was gloating because he had gotten the last word in and saw the blonde wereanimal’s mother coming at the small vampire with a knife.  I instinctively jumped forward and pushed Elijah out of the way.  He fell against the car and I gasped as the knife bit into flesh.

I found that I couldn’t move my arms because I was trapped between the car and Ewan’s body.  He had shielded me from the woman’s attack.  I watched as the woman pulled the blade out of Ewan’s shoulder in an attempt to stab him again.  His arm whipped out and grabbed her by the wrist.  Her face suddenly contorted into agonizing pain and I flinched as I heard tendons snap and bones crunch.  The woman opened her mouth to scream but never got any sound out as Elijah covered her mouth with a hand and twisted her neck sideways.

“Don’t kill her,” Ewan said quickly.

Elijah stopped turning the woman’s head and used his other hand to pinch her nose shut.  She struggled for several terrible moments before her eyes rolled up in her head and she passed out.  Elijah let go of her and Ewan released her wrist.  She fell to the ground like a broken doll and lay unmoving.  I bent to check her pulse, but Ewan grabbed me by the shoulder and forced me back up.

“Olivia, what were you thinking?”

“I just want to make sure she’s still alive!”

“No, I mean why did you push Elijah out of the way and put yourself in the way?  Vampires can sustain damage better than you can.”

Oh, yeah.  It hadn’t even occurred to me that the tiny knife blade would probably be nothing more than an irritation for Elijah.  I didn’t really know how to respond, so I just stood there like an idiot.  Elijah came to Ewan’s side and looked at his shoulder.

“You’re not bleeding,” he said quietly.

Ewan attempted a shrug, but stopped halfway through the motion.  He grabbed his shoulder and bit back a noise of pain.  “I haven’t eaten in a while.”

“You ate just this morning,” I said.

“Not a lot,” he said, looking at me in a way that I think meant to tell me to shut up.

“You mean you’ve eaten today and you’re not bleeding at all?  Emanuel, when was the last time you had a meal?  Are you not eating again?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Ewan as he leaned back against the car and closed his eyes, still holding his shoulder.

Elijah searched Ewan’s pallid face and then looked at me.  He seemed very concerned about Ewan’s condition.  After a few moments he hooked a finger in Ewan’s belt loop and turned him to the side.  Ewan put out a hand to stop him, but Elijah extracted a key from his back pocket anyway.  He unlocked the car and then handed the key to me.

“Olivia, you need to drive.”

“No way, I’m fine,” Ewan protested.

“Of course you are.  But, Emanuel...Ewan, if you don’t get blood in that wound your shoulder may not heal right.  Let go of your pride, let me help.”

Elijah pushed Ewan into the back seat of the car and climbed in after him.  He pulled the seat back into place and I didn’t know what else to do than get in the car.  I didn’t want anyone to see me standing next to a body lying on the ground.  More than likely I should have called the police.  I was a member of a law enforcement agency after all and this woman was a citizen; I had an obligation to protect her.  But, I found myself simply closing the door and looking down at the gearshift.

Elijah noticed my hesitation and said, “Do you not know how to drive a stick?”

I shook my head.  “No, I do,” I said.

I pulled my sunglasses out of my pocket and put them on.  Then I started the car and backed out very carefully so as not to run over the woman and eased my way into the tourist-filled traffic.  I looked in the rearview mirror and was relieved to see the woman stirring on the ground.

“Turn right at this light, Olivia,” Elijah instructed me, “and then left at the next light.  Then just follow the signs to 64 East.”

I nodded and watched the two vampires in the backseat.  Elijah had stripped off Ewan’s shirt and I had to slam on the brakes as I nearly rear ended a person who hadn’t been brave enough to run a yellow light.  I focused on the taillights in front of me and fought not to look back at Ewan’s absolutely ripped torso.  I lost the fight.

Ewan’s upper body was nothing but soft, smooth skin over perfectly shaped, hard muscle.  His shoulders seemed broader in comparison to his slender, narrow waist and his chest was completely hairless.  I wondered if he waxed.

I jumped as a horn blared behind me and I gunned the gas, causing the tires to squeal as I didn’t lift my foot off the clutch fast enough.  We spun around the corner and I was amazed to discover what excellent pick up the car had.  I shifted into second gear and then third.  The car jump forward and I felt myself start to smile.  I loved manual transmissions.  I forced myself to slow down.  I didn’t want to get pulled over and then try to explain what was going on in the backseat.  Hell, I didn’t even know if Ewan owned this car or not.

I found my way to 64 East and now had a little more freedom to watch the pair behind me.  Ewan had been arguing with Elijah for several minutes now and finally it escalated to shouting.

“Look, Elijah, I can’t risk you trying to heal it, okay?  You know what will happen if you get my blood in your system.”

“No, I don’t.  Why are you being such a prick about this?”

Ewan cursed wearily.  “Look, you know about Ewan’s blood, right?  It’s like Shannon’s blood.  So, that means...”

“Oh, shit.  I didn’t even think of that.”

“Clearly.”

“But, you have no blood in your system anyway.  And besides, I’m using my blood not yours.  And if worst comes to worst, you know how fond I am of my hand.  No big deal.”

Ewan laughed and then winced.  “Damn, why does this hurt so much?”

“Because you’re weak.  Now just let me help you.  Stay still.”

Elijah scooted close behind Ewan and then gasped in horror.  I felt my heart leap to my throat and gripped the wheel.  I looked forward to make sure I wasn’t about to run off the road or hit someone.  There weren’t many cars around so I looked in the mirror again to see what had distressed Elijah so.  He had pushed Ewan forward at the neck and was looking at his lower back.  He ran his hand over a red, ragged scar near where his kidney would have been if he had any.

“What is this?” he asked.

“What is what?” asked Ewan, irritated.

“That’s from where I shot you, isn’t it?” I asked.

“You shot him?” asked Elijah.  “Geez, how exactly did you two meet?  And when did this happen?  Today?”

“No, yesterday afternoon.”

Elijah went still and met my eyes in the mirror.  I had to look away from the raw terror that was filling his eyes.  When I looked back he was rubbing his thumb over the knife wound with pursed lips.

“Shannon won’t be happy if he finds out about this.”

“I swear to God, you say one word of this to Shannon and I will kill you, Elijah.”

“I said _if_ he finds out, sweetheart.  He won’t find out from me.  Now, hold still.”

Elijah leaned forward and put his tongue between his teeth.  I looked at the road so I wouldn’t have to see him bite through his tongue again.  I looked back in time to see Elijah let dark, fat drops of blood fall onto Ewan’s shoulder.  He used his finger to work the liquid into the wound and I strained my eyes to see what was happening.  I was forced to look at the road again suddenly as a person whizzed by me on the right.  I focused on driving through a cluster of cars for a few minutes and when I looked back, the wound had closed and Elijah was massaging Ewan’s very taut shoulders.

“Relax, baby,” the younger vampire whispered, “why do you make everything so hard for yourself?”

Elijah bent forward and ran his tongue on the pink spot that marked where the wound had been.

“Careful, Elijah, don’t get any of my blood.”

“I really don’t think that’s possible,” Elijah murmured as he trailed his lips up to Ewan’s neck.  His hands continued to work at Ewan’s shoulders and his jaws worked at his throat.  I moved my eyes a little to the left and found that Ewan was watching me in the mirror.  I put my eyes forward again and slammed on the accelerator.  The sooner we got to Norfolk the sooner I could spend some time away from them.

Ten minutes passed and the only sounds were those of skin rubbing against skin and the soft noises made by Elijah creating and breaking suction on Ewan’s neck.  Finally Elijah leaned back against the side of the car and put a hand to his head.  I found that I could suddenly concentrate on driving better without the two vampires being somewhat intimate with each other not a foot behind me.  Five more minutes of silence passed and I saw a sign that said we were nearing the bridge to cross into Norfolk.

“Olivia, can you pull over?” I heard Elijah whisper from the back.

“Pull over, why?”

“I don’t feel good.”

“Well, can it wait?  We’re about to get on the bridge.”

“No, it can’t wait.  Pull over.  Now.”

I signaled and cut into the right lane and then pulled off onto the narrow shoulder.  Elijah struggled with the chair in front of him and I helped pull it forward and open the door.  He spilled out onto the ground on all fours and then managed to scramble a few yards away before he began to heave.  Bright pink strawberry smoothie began pooling in the sparse grass.

I sighed and tapped my fingers on the wheel.  Behind me Ewan looked like a date rape victim with his eyelids drooping, his shirt off, and his neck covered in hickeys.  He slid down the back of the seat and lay on his side in utter exhaustion.  Outside Elijah continued to puke his proverbial guts out.  I raised my eyes to the ceiling of the car.  I couldn’t believe that just a few hours ago I had been scared to death of vampires and their frightening capabilities.  They appeared to be just as weak and fragile as humans.  Either vampires really weren’t as big and bad as they liked to believe themselves to be, or these two were just having a really bad day.


	10. Michael, Aislinn, and Scott

Bob allowed me to pass through the gates to the apartment complex without so much as a single question regarding the two miserable men in the backseat of the car.  Maybe he was used to the occupants returning home in odd conditions.  I pulled into the covered garage and killed the engine.  It had been a long car ride back.  Neither vampire had said a word and I hadn’t been brave enough to turn on the radio.  Now we sat in the semidarkness and no one seemed inclined to get out of the car just yet.  I turned in my seat and looked at the two of them.  Ewan had managed to get his shirt back on and the marks on his neck had faded.

“Y’all feeling better?” I asked.

“A little,” said Elijah.

“Well enough,” said Ewan.

“You need to eat something,” Elijah echoed Shannon.

Ewan waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Later.  I’m doing fine now.  We just need to go do some paperwork, Olivia, and then you can go back to Danica’s and tell her you found an apartment.  I guess you’ll want to drive back to Stafford this weekend to pack your things.”

“Yeah,” I said absently.  Was I really going to move in here?  Did I really have a choice?

“Okay, everybody out,” said Ewan.

We headed toward the twenty story apartment building and I slipped my sunglasses into my pocket.  Ewan glanced about furtively as we made our way up the stone path.  I wondered what or who he was looking for.  When we entered the building Ewan turned left and I started to follow him, but Elijah grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me down a corridor.

“This way,” he said.  “I want you to meet my roommate.”

“Later, Elijah,” Ewan called out, but the vampire didn’t let go of my wrist.

I followed him down the hall and he opened door 102 without using a key.  The apartment had the exact same layout as Shannon’s, Sullivan’s, and mine.  But, it looked totally different.  It looked almost like a college dorm room with clothes and notebooks littering the floor and thrown about on secondhand furniture.  Two computers were set up in one corner and a basketball, a soccer ball, and baseball equipment spilled out of the foyer closet.   The only things missing were the half empty pizza boxes and beer cans.

On a brown red, green, and orange striped couch laid a figure.  I raised an eyebrow as it lifted its head and looked at me.  It was a very pretty head: he had straight, delicate features and smooth, olive skin.  Baby fine black hair spilled around his high cheekbones and against a long, slim neck.  His eyes were a dark hazel and I debated as to whether they were actually hunter green.  He wore black leather pants and an oversized dress shirt, just like Elijah, only his was pale yellow.  And just like Elijah, he was small and slender and looked very young.  The man put his head back on the couch and closed his eyes again.  I noticed his hands were gripping the couch tightly.

“Who’s that?” he asked.

“This is Olivia Mae Milligan,” Elijah announced.  “Dr. Olivia.”

The man on the couch smiled with his tongue pressed to his upper lip.  “Did she come here to play?” he asked with a laugh.

“Not with you.”

I turned to see Ewan leaning against the door jamb.  Then from behind him came three more small, beautiful men.  Or were they boys?  They all looked so young and fragile.  There was a pretty blonde who would have made a perfect Aryan, an American Indian with gorgeous grey eyes, and an angelic Asian who was the tiniest of them all.  I wondered if he was even five feet.  They all wore black leather pants and oversized pastel dress shirts.  The blonde wore blue, the Indian green, and the Asian pink.  They paraded past Elijah and me and took a seat on the couch with the first occupant.  Well, they didn’t so much sit as lounge on one another.  They looked like a harem.

Elijah jumped forward and smiled brightly.  He must have been feeling much better now.  He pointed a finger to each one and called out a name.  The one lying down was Michael, the blonde was Samuel, the Indian was Daniel, and the Asian was Israel.  Ewan had joined me in the middle of the room and Elijah had joined the others on the couch.  They all stuck out a hand toward me and I took a step forward to shake their hands.  They all took turns molesting my hand.  I turned to glance at Ewan and he was standing very near me.  I felt a hand pass over my bottom and I elbowed Ewan in the ribs, hard.  He backed off.  I took the opportunity to step back a few paces from the couch.  I focused on an armrest in order to try to not notice the freedom with which they allowed their hands to roam over each other.

“Olivia,” said Elijah as an arm made its way around his waist, “these are my brothers.  They are also Emanuel’s brothers.”

I looked over at Ewan.  “You kinda of broke the mold, didn’t you?”

Ewan shrugged.  “I’m just special.”

“He was the first,” said Samuel.

“No, not the first,” said Daniel.  “I’m older than he is.  And so was Abel.”

“You are?” asked the blonde.  “I didn’t know that.  Then why is Emanuel so much more powerful than you?”

“Because he didn’t give into her,” Daniel said bitterly.

An awkward silence followed.  Or maybe it was just awkward for me because the vampires didn’t seem too bothered by the outburst.  I kept waiting for someone to say something, so that I wouldn’t feel obliged.

“Sit down, sit down!” cried Michael, eyes still closed, hands still gripping the couch.  “You’re making me sick swaying the way you are.”

Elijah laughed and leaned over Israel to run his hands over Michael’s chest.  He opened his green/hazel eyes and watched Elijah slide up his body.  The grey-haired vampire rested on his “brother” like a puppy: his forearms flat on Michael’s chest and his butt sticking up in the air.  Right in Israel’s face I noted.  The Asian vampire leaned back against the couch so as to not be right up in it.

“You are such a dork,” laughed Elijah.

“No, I’m not,” Michael protested.  “Just look at them, they’re floating around sideways and openly defying the universe.  I mean, any second now they could go spiraling off into the frozen black infinity that is space.”

Samuel, who was lying beside Michael on the couch reached out a hand and stroked Elijah’s fluffy hair back behind an ear.  “Nonsense,” he said, drawing Elijah close, “the ceiling would stop them.”  He kissed Elijah on the cheek and then stood up and turned around with his arms spread wide.  “Look at me, I’m fine.”

“Oh stop!” wailed Michael and shut his eyes.

To say I was confused would be calling upon Captain Obvious.  Why these vampires were so physical with each other and why the one on the couch was such a freak were burning questions, but I didn’t really want to know the answers.  I really didn’t, but I had a feeling I was going to find out anyway.

“He never got over the earth not being flat,” said Elijah as he looked at me.  “He thinks that we’re all walking sideways and—”

“We are sideways,” said Michael.  “The Earth is straight up and down and we’re running around sideways.  Fucking idiot.  Had to get on a boat and go sailing around the world, didn’t he?”

“Who?  Columbus?” asked Samuel.

“Magellan,” said Elijah and Daniel together.

“Fucking loser,” Michael continued.  “He didn’t even make it around.  Got killed by a bunch of Polynesian natives.  And ruined my life.  I was perfectly happy until he came along.  Now I know that we’re just dangling off the side of this big orb floating in a black, inky vacuum.  We could all fall off any minute now.”

“But gravity is holding us down,” I said in a vain attempt to comfort a lunatic.

“Yes, but only your feet!  You are making gravity work very hard to hold you down.  If you lie flat then you are where you should be and gravity can hold you all over.”

“But,” I said, completely ignoring the little voice telling me to choose my battles wisely, “gravity is so strong that you’re fighting a losing battle.  Do you know the amount of power needed to get a rocket to break away from Earth’s gravity enough to get into outer space?  There’s no way you standing up straight would ever get anywhere near that strength.”

Michael opened his dark, pretty eyes and focused on me.  He sat up a little and Elijah sat back into Israel’s lap in order to allow him to do so.  His grip on the couch eased.

“That is an excellent point you make,” he conceded.

“Yes, it is.  I mean, the only way you would ever go flying off the Earth’s surface is if it suddenly stopped spinning.  But, then, everything would go flying off into space and I don’t think it would really matter anymore at that point.”

While I was talking Daniel, Samuel, and Elijah had been shaking their heads and running an index finger under their necks.  Now they let their heads drop in resignation.  I looked back at Michael and saw his pupils dilate as his hands regained their death grip on the couch.

“The Earth is _spinning_?” he squealed.

He flung himself back down onto the couch and closed his eyes.  Elijah looked at me with an annoyed expression.

“Way to go, Doc.”

I shrugged.  “Sorry, I didn’t know he didn’t know.”

“Well, it’s fine with me,” said Ewan.  “You were way too much trouble when you had no concerns, Michael.  I think leaving you pinned to a couch is the best thing for everybody.”

“True,” said Daniel as he reached a hand back to gather his thick, black hair together and pull it over one shoulder.  It fell nearly to his waist when he let it go.  “I think I like Michael when he’s lying down and won’t run away.  You can pretty much do anything to him now without much protest.”

Samuel snorted.  “There wasn’t much you couldn’t do to him beforehand.”

The vampires smiled and laughed softly, as if remembering some pleasant memories.  I raised an eyebrow.  Lord, did I ever not want to know.

“Well, now that you’ve met Michael,” said Ewan, “we’ll be on our way.”

“Wait,” cried the Asian suddenly and pushed his way through arms and legs to leap off the couch.  I was surprised to see him so lively; he had been quite reserved up until now.  “What should we do?”

“What?” asked Ewan, confused.  “When?”

“Now.  Today, tonight.  Whatever.  You need to tell us what to do.  You told us three months ago to try living without everyday orders, but that ended a week ago.  I don’t know what to do now.  Please, help.”

Ewan looked back at them with something close to shocked horror.  I took a few steps away to clear myself from the scene.  All the vampires were now completely focused on Ewan with frightening intensity.  Except Elijah who sat crossed-legged on the couch, playing with his toes.

“What do you mean?  What did you do for those three months?  Can’t you continue to do that?”

“Is that what you want us to do?” asked Israel.

“I want you to start living your own damn lives!”

“We’ve forgotten how to do that, Emanuel,” said Daniel.

Ewan turned his back on them and took in a deep breath.  He looked up at me and I saw him force his features to soften as he turned back.

“Look, I understand these last two years have been difficult for you.  But you’ve got to get it through your heads.  Geri’s dead.  And she’s not coming back.  This is not some little game or test of hers.  You all saw her body.  You have to let her go.”

“That’s so easy to say, isn’t it?” Michael asked with hostility.

Ewan sighed.  “Look, I’m not saying it will be easy.  But you have to at least try.  And clinging to me as a replacement will not help you.”

“But, I…” Israel broke off and his lower lip trembled.  He stepped forward and fell against Ewan, wrapping his arms around his waist.  His head didn’t even reach Ewan’s shoulder.  He looked like a child in Ewan’s arms.

“Can you at least help us a little?” asked Samuel.  “I mean, we had every detail and aspect of our lives planned for us.  Every choice and decision made by someone else.”

“I know,” said Ewan and petted Israel soothingly.  “But, you’ve got to start being more independent.  Or look to Elijah for help.  He’s still young and hadn’t really been brainwashed quite the same way as the rest of you.”

I raised an eyebrow as I saw Israel slip his hands under the back of Ewan’s shirt and begin to caress his back.  Ewan either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“I’ve got an idea,” he said.  “Why don’t you all start using your real names again?  Your original names.  That your human parents gave you.”

The vampires looked at their toes.  Daniel finally looked up and met Ewan’s gaze, his grey eyes brimming with sorrow.  “We don’t even remember our real names, Emanuel.  Do you remember yours?”

“And it won’t help me,” said Elijah, “Elijah is my real name.”  He twisted on the couch to look at me.  “I bet you’re wondering why my name is different, right?  Well, our maker had this whole thing about matching and stuff and named all of us names ending in ‘el.’  She threatened to call me Elijel, but decided that my name being Hebrew was enough and—”

“Shut-up, Elijah,” Daniel shouted from the couch.  “Just shut-up, okay?  This isn’t a big deal for you, but for us we’re trying to fight our way out of quicksand, refusing to accept that we’ve already been completely swallowed by it.”

“That’s it,” said Ewan, completely irritated.  He pushed Israel away and walked toward the door.  “I am not putting up with any of this melodramatic shit any longer.  Either grow up and live your own lives or wallow in misery on this couch until the killer comes to find you.  I’m through with you all.  But, first, all of you come over here and give Olivia her stuff back.”

I blinked.  Say what?

The boys, except Elijah and Michael, glumly filed toward me.  As they walked past me and returned to the couch, they each handed me an object: my wallet, my sunglasses, and a pack of gum.  I stared in amazement at the items in my hand.  I had been completely unaware I’d been pick-pocketed.

“Come on, Michael, you too,” Ewan prodded.

“I didn’t cop anything,” he said defensively.

Ewan crossed his arms over his chest and looked pointedly at the vampire gripping the couch.

“Well, just a feel,” he said with a smile.

“Ah,” said Ewan as he turned to look at me.  “That explains the elbow to the ribs.”

I felt a little guilty about elbowing Ewan when it had been Michael who had touched me, but not that guilty.  I just shrugged nonchalantly in his direction.  When I looked back at the couch, the five matching vampires had returned to lounging on each other.  They all looked at Ewan with innocent eyes while their hands trailed here in there in very non-innocent places.  Ewan cleared his throat and shook his head at the group.  He walked to the door and held it open for me.  I walked through and glanced back inside.  They were all staring at me with nothing less than inviting, promising smiles.  Elijah sat on the end of the couch and waved goodbye.  Ewan shut the door and I had to blink to clear my eyes.  I followed him down the corridor and back the direction he had initially gone in when we first came in the building.

“So, what did you think of the Brothers?” Ewan asked with a small smile.

“Well, they’re,” I began and groped–no, not groped–searched for a word to describe them.  I finally said the first word that popped into my head.  “Tempting,” I said.

Ewan laughed.  “Tempting?  Oh, my.  I’m afraid you’re in trouble, Olivia.  They weren’t even trying just now.  You know, Bram Stoker based his vampire vixens off of them.”

“Really?” I questioned.  “Surely not Elijah.  He’s too young.  He wasn’t even born yet.  As a human I mean.”

“No, not Elijah,” Ewan agreed.  “But, ‘Two were dark...and had great dark, piercing eyes...The other was fair, as fair can be, with great masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphires.’  He based them off Daniel, Samuel, and Abel.”

We paused in front of a door and Ewan pulled out his ring of keys.  I glanced around his person.  Where was he keeping all this stuff?  He found the key he wanted and unlocked the door.  It led inside to a small office area with three filing cabinets and a desk with a very old computer on it.  Ewan walked to a filing cabinet and opened a drawer.  He began to root through the papers inside.

I walked around to the chair behind the desk and sat down.  I moved the mouse and the screen saver with flying toasters disappeared.  I raised an eyebrow as Windows 95 opened up.  I wasn’t even sure if I knew how to use Windows 95.  I started moving the mouse and opening up files.

“So, is Abel another brother?”

“Yes.  He was the least annoying of them all.”

“Where is he now?”

“He was killed about twenty-five years ago.”

“By the serial killer?”

“Yeah.  Here we are.”

I heard Ewan close the file cabinet and then he shooed me away from the computer.  I hadn’t found anything terribly interesting.  He sat down in the seat I had vacated and I sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk.  He placed a thin stack of forms on the desk and pushed them over toward me.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Your lease.”

I let out a small, disbelieving laugh.  “Seriously?”

“Yes.  This is a legally licensed residential building and as its landlord and superintendent, I’m responsible for managing it within the strict confines of the law.”

“Ignoring the fact that your tenants feed on and kill people, however.”

“Have you seen any of the residents here kill anyone?  Or do anything that was not between consenting adults?  Just because people live differently than you do does not make them evil.  In fact, the only illegal activity you’ve seen today is a human attacking one of us.  Now, who are the evil creatures here?”

I sat back in my chair, crossed my arms, and glared at Ewan.  I was not going to let him win this one.

“Let’s see, assaulting an employee of the federal government, kidnapping, extortion, conspiracy, leaving the scene of a crime, body snatching—”

“Body snatching?”

“Henry’s body was evidence belonging to the federal government.”

“Henry’s body was mine to do with as I pleased.”

“Well, not according to the law.  So, cut the bullshit.”

“What do you want, Olivia?  Do you want me to commit some heinous crime to prove that I’m a soulless, God-forsaken demon?”  He leaned forward and rested his hands on the desk.  His brilliant green eyes held me as surely as his arms might.  “I am soulless and God has forsaken me.  But, that has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a vampire.  Now, sign the damn lease.”

I jumped as he slammed a pen on top of the papers.  I hadn’t seen him move his hand to retrieve the pen.  I sat grasping the armrests of the chair in a grip almost as severe as Michael’s had been on the couch.  My heart was racing to catch up with the fear tearing through my body.  I sat paralyzed, unable to break eye contact.

“Ewan.”

I jumped again and swallowed hard to hold back a scream.  Ewan held my gaze for a few more splintering seconds, and then looked away.  I gasped for breath and felt like a weight had been lifted from my body.  I bowed my face to my hands and felt tears at my eyes.  I shivered in the warm office, trying to piece together what had just happened.

“Ewan, what are you doing?”

The voice was accusing, but clear, cool, and beautiful.  I felt compelled to look over my shoulder to confirm that the voice indeed belonged to a beautiful woman.  Boy, was I wrong.  She was gorgeous.  She wore hip-hugger jeans slung dangerously far below her bellybutton and a thin stretch T-shirt cutoff only a few inches before her breasts.  Her stomach and abdomen were flat and subtly muscled and the lines of her arms and legs were smooth and straight.  Her breasts were small, but by no means could you call her flat-chested.  And she must not have been wearing a bra if the peaks under her shirt were any indication.  She had platinum blonde hair curled stylishly above her shoulders and dark, doe-like eyes surrounded by full, thick lashes.  She wore bright red lipstick, but it somehow looked good on her without making her seem like a prostitute.  So, Shannon was the shampoo commercial, and here was the Cover Girl.

“Ewan,” she said again, still focused on him, “what are you doing in here?  I could feel you all the way down the hall.”  She rubbed her arms as if she were cold.  “You made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.”

“That’s piloerection!” a voice shouted from the hall.

“Ha, ha.  You said erection,” said another voice.

The two voices laughed and faded down the hall.  I looked back at Ewan and he had stood up.  He walked around the desk and then sat on the edge.  Even sitting on the desk he was a good deal taller than the woman.  She must have been shorter than me.  The look on his face was measured and controlled, but I was very glad he was directing it at the woman and not me.

“I will not be questioned by you, Aislinn.  Much was allowed for Henry’s sake, but he’s gone now and you must learn your place again.”

The woman drew herself up and her eyes hardened.  “Do not use his name as a weapon.  He would not have wanted—”

“You know nothing of what he wanted,” Ewan cut her off.  “I am not in a mood to bother with you now, Aislinn.  This is Olivia and you will help her move in and feel comfortable in her new home.  You will accompany her to Stafford and help her pack.  There is no expenditure limit if you decide to buy her new furniture.”  Ewan moved off the desk and paused beside Aislinn.  “Do be kind to her, my heart.  If you need me you can reach me on my cell phone.”

“Of course, my love,” she said with less sarcasm than I thought the situation warranted.  She stood on her tiptoes and used long, slender fingers to pull him down by the collar of his T-shirt.  She kissed him on the cheek and left bright red lips on his skin.  He continued out the door and smiled at me.

“I’ll be in touch.  Sign the lease.”

I stared at the empty door jamb having a very WTF moment.  Aislinn stared at her toes a few moments and then turned to look at me, a bright smile on her face.  I couldn’t help but be convinced by the sincerity of the warmth and friendliness in it.  I took in a deep breath.  I was allowing myself to like them.  It was only a matter of time before they stabbed me in the back.

“So,” said Aislinn, still smiling.  “You’re Olivia Mae Milligan.  I’ve heard a lot about you.  My name is Aislinn.”

She stuck out a hand in greeting and I rose from my chair to accept.  I found that my assumption was correct and I was about a couple inches taller than her.  Her eyes dropped to my chest and she laughed.

“And they say the FBI doesn’t have a sense of humor.”

I looked down at my T-shirt, and remembered what I was wearing.  I looked back up and shrugged.  “Well, I’m not really what you think of when you think FBI.  I’m not an agent or anything.”

“Oh, I see.  But, you still get to flash a badge, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“And carry a gun?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“That’s way cool, you know.”  She hooked an arm with mine and began to lead me out the door.  I grabbed the lease off the desk on our way out, afraid of Ewan’s reaction if I just left it there.  “So, which apartment did you choose, poor thing?  The one above or below Shannon?”

“Uh, the one above.”

She led me out the lobby entrance and toward the parking garage.  Great.  More driving.

“I think that’s probably better than below.  Maybe.  Just wait till you meet him.  It’ll be quite a shock.”

I gave a slight shake of my head as I laughed.  “I’ve already met him.”

“Who?  Shannon?”

“Yeah.”

Aislinn stopped walking and turned me to face her.  “Was Ewan with you?”

“Yes,” I said, curious at her reaction to the news.

“And did, uh, I mean, did they—” she broke off. “What happened?”

“Well, there were some snide comments and obvious hostility.  But, we just talked.”

Aislinn’s eyebrows shot up.  “That’s all?”

“Well, essentially.”

Aislinn rubbed her forehead with a hand.  “Wow.  I didn’t know he was capable of behaving himself that well.”

“Which one?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

Aislinn smiled.  “You’re right, either of them.  They tend to be absolute rogues.  But, when they’re around each other, they’re just assholes.”

I smiled.  I believed that.  Aislinn grabbed my arm again and we were off.

“So, what’s the deal with them?” I asked.

Aislinn stalled a bit.  “Well, truthfully, I don’t really know all the particulars.  It happened right around the time Ewan was turned.  He’s hated Shannon ever since he came to be one of us.  But, I wasn’t even born when all that went down.”

“Born as a vampire or a human?”

“Oh, as a human, of course.  Here, let me give you a little vampire lingo to help you out.  When we say born we mean as humans because that is when we are actually given birth to.  When we talk about turning into vampires, we say turned or changed.  That should help keep things straight.  Well, straighter, anyway.”

“Oh, yes, thank you,” I said.  Yeah, right.  I still doubted that anything they said was anywhere near the truth.

We disappeared into the dark carport and Aislinn led me to a purple Mustang GT.  She unlocked the door for me and then slid behind the wheel.  She looked very excited to drive.

“So, where we going?  Back to Stafford?  Or do you want to go straight to Crate and Barrel?”

“Uh, actually I have to go get my car and check in with my host.  Do you know where Danica Springs lives?”

“Danica?  Yeah, I know.”  Aislinn started the car and made a face.  “Man, I hate that bitch.”        

Fifteen minutes later we rolled up beside the Springs’ residence.  I was smiling and had enjoyed Aislinn’s company despite myself.  She had rolled down the windows and turned the local rock radio station up on high as we cruised through Norfolk.  She had also talked non-stop, mostly about how drab the nightlife was in Norfolk and how much better it had been in Los Angeles.  She had felt compelled to move to the complex after the danger of the serial killer had been fully explained to her.  She carefully avoided talking about Richmond and Henry and I definitely did not feel it was within my rights to bring it up even though she might be able to provide information about Henry’s last hours.

“Well, here we are,” she said cheerfully.  “Can you give me your address in Stafford?  I’ll just Google Map it and come up when you’re ready.”

I wrote down my address and handed it to the vampire.  She smiled at me and then said, “Oh!” and reached over to the dashboard.  “Don’t forget this!”

She handed me the lease and I took it resignedly.  This was really going to happen.  I was going to move into an apartment complex full of vampires and God knows what else.  And on top of that, these things seemed to have some serious issues with one another.

“Thanks,” I said to Aislinn and got out of the car.  She waved goodbye and sped off down the street.  I looked at my little blue Accord.  It was going to be very disappointing to get back in that thing after having a taste of Ewan’s Subaru WRX.  Maybe now that I was living in the complex they would buy me a new car so that my car wouldn’t be an eyesore in the garage.  That was a pleasant thought.  What wasn’t a pleasant thought was that I didn’t have a key to Danica’s house and I was locked outside.

“Dr. Milligan,” a voice called out.

I looked left and saw ElliotSprings walking toward me with a backpack slung over one shoulder.

“Looks like I got home just in time,” he said with a bright smile.  “Who was that babe in that car?  That was a nice ride.”

“Yeah, that uh, well, she lives in the apartment complex I’m going to be moving into.”

“Cool.”

Elliott used a key to let us into the house and I suddenly felt very tired.  I just wanted to go upstairs and crash into bed.  I told Elliott I was going to take a nap and he nodded as he grabbed a bag of Doritos and flopped onto the couch.  He turned on the TV and I trudged up the stairs to the sounds of some blonde seventeen year old who couldn’t really sing gyrating on the hood of a car.

In my room I saw the towels I used that morning still on the bed.  I felt a shiver run through my body as I remembered how Ewan had dressed me.  It seemed like that had happened days ago, weeks even.  I kicked off my sandals and fell onto the bed.  On the night stand I saw my personal and work cell phones.  I didn’t usually forget to take them with me, but this morning had been a bit unusual.  I picked them up to see if I had missed any calls and there was one on my personal phone.  There was no name with it and I didn’t recognize the number, so I put it back on the table and laid my head down.  And the phone rang.  I groaned and grabbed the phone, hitting the button to stop the ring only five notes into Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”  The number was the same as the missed call.  I rolled to my back and flipped open the phone.

“Hello?” I said, trying not to sound annoyed or tired.

“Hi, my name is Scott.  I’m trying to reach Dr. Olivia Milligan.”  The man’s voice was a little on the deep side and completely unaccented.

“This is she.”

“Excellent.  Like I said, my name is Scott.”

He paused and I tried to think if I was supposed to know him.  Scott was a fairly common name, but all I was getting was Scott Foley, a kid I had gone to high school with.

“Uh, I think Leonard King might have mentioned me.”

My eyes opened completely and my head cleared.  “Uh, yes, I’m sorry.  He did mention you might try to get in contact with me.  About the situation.”  I was peeved.  Ewan had given out my private cell phone number.

“Yes, the situation.  I have some information for you that may help you start looking for the culprit.”

“Do you want to meet and discuss this in person?” I asked, amazed that I was volunteering to meet with a complete stranger and a wereanimal to boot.

“That wouldn’t be possible at this time; I’m in San Francisco.”

“Oh.”

“But, I do have some information that will help jumpstart the investigation on your coast.”

“That was a little fast.”

“Well, it’s very general information, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Okay, what have you got for me?”

“Well, there have only been five species of fairy, all in the same family, who ever had the ability to phase through solid objects.  And even though there are some fairies that are small enough to do damage in a body if injected or swallowed, none are small enough to breach the blood-brain barrier.  Uh, I assume you know what that is being a doctor.”

“Yes.  So, fairies are at least big enough that they can’t escape from the bloodstream into brain tissue?”

“Correct.  So, the only way a fairy could get into a brain would be to phase through the skull itself.  Now, I’m 99% sure that two of the species are extinct and 95% sure that three of them are extinct.  As for the remaining two there seems to be only one candidate to me.  One species is a tropical fairy and much like tropical fish cannot long survive out of their native environments.  I suppose the killer could be transporting them in climate controlled conditions, but fairies aren’t usually willing to submit to that kind of control unless their king or queen commands it.  Which is also unlikely because while kings and queens don’t mind playing tricks, they tend not to put their own people into too much danger.”

“Uh-huh,” I said.

“I’m sorry if I’m boring you,” he said, his voice pitching even lower.  “I don’t know how much you know about fairies.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that.  I know nothing about fairies.  Carry on.”

“Well,” he continued, his voice back in a baritone range, “like I said, for it to be a tropical fairy would be very unlikely.  So, the obvious choice is _Phasic marcellus_ ,a species that not only is known to live in a deciduous climate, but is also indigenous to that area.  Their common name is the Zebra Fairy and they actually look like Zebra Swallowtail butterflies from a distance.”

“Okay.” I thought for a moment.  What information would you need to know about a potential killer?  “Are they flesh eating?  Would they normally feed on brain tissue for sustenance?  Or are they particularly malicious?”

“No, not really.  They can be very amiable from what I’ve read about them, but I get a different account of them in virtually every description I read.  Except there is one significant trait that is a common theme.”

“And that is?”

“Greed.  They love treasure and will be very nice and polite until there is a chance to make a profit for themselves.  Then they can become quite mercenary.”

“So, you don’t think they would be doing this on their own?”

“Definitely not.  Someone’s got to be offering them a pretty penny to do this kind of work.  It is not a wise idea to go after vampires.  There have been attempts before and—well, let’s just say that the perpetrators never again saw the light of day.  This killer has found a very clever way of concealing his tracks, but I have to think that he’s a bit touched to even have considered attempting it.”

“Touched?”

“Crazy.”

“Ah.  So, are there any signs or something I can look for that might lead to their nest or whatever?”

“People have been searching for these fairies for centuries.  They’ll not be found unless they want to be.”

“Then how did the killer find them?”

I heard the man take in a breath.  “That is a mystery.  What I recommend you investigate are people who were in the area around the time the murders began.”

“But, the first murder was in London in 1951.  And the killer didn’t use a fairy then.”

“Oh.  I was not informed of this.  Then, I guess you should look in that area around the time the murderer started using the fairies.  I’m going to continue some research here, see if it is possible to get in contact with these creatures somehow.  And as a hint, when you look at the people who might have gotten a hold of the fairies, look for very wealthy or powerful people.  People who could get their hands on a lot of wealth very readily.”

“You really think I should look for a person?  The murderer’s been killing for over fifty years now.”

“Yes, but everyone in the Underground lives longer than humans.  Even wereanimals can live to be a hundred fifty or even two hundred years old.”

I hitched an eyebrow.  “Really?”

“Yeah, so, don’t rule anyone out.”

“Will you be coming here to help in the investigation?”

“Uh,” he paused for a long moment.  “If you, a human, has been brought in on this, then Ewan must be involved somehow.  I don’t think it would be wise for us to be so close together.  It’s enough trouble already with us being on the same continent.”

I made a face.  Just how many enemies did Ewan have anyway?  “Well, what’s the deal with you two?”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit personal?”

I shrugged, forgetting he couldn’t see the gesture.  “I’ve only known about the Underground for two days now and I’ve already had a lot of personal boundaries breached.”

“Only two days?  You’re handling this well.”

I didn’t have an answer for him.  Had there been humans before me who had not handled it so well?  Or was I the first and I was just doing better than they expected?

“Well, anyway,” Scott said, “Ewan and I just don’t see eye to eye on—anything really.  If it becomes necessary, I will make the trip out.  But, I have a job here and can’t drop everything to go on a wild fairy chase.”

“Believe it or not, I know exactly what you mean,” I said dryly.

Scott laughed and his rich voice vibrated against my ear and rippled down my body.  I tried to imagine a face to fit that voice, but I couldn’t manage to draw up a plausible image.  But I did imagine he could make a killing in the phone sex business.  I blushed at the thought and then spoke hurriedly to cover up my own embarrassment.

“Well, uh, thank you for your help.  I’ll get started right away.”

“No problem.  Always a pleasure to do an involuntary favor.”

I started to laugh, but then thought that maybe he wasn’t joking.  We said goodbye and I closed the phone.  I considered calling Sullivan with the information, but I didn’t have his number.  I tried to remember the name of the apartment complex–maybe it had an operator–but I couldn’t recall ever seeing a sign on the grounds or at the gate.  I shrugged.  Oh, well.  What can you do?

I put the phone on the night stand and curled into a ball.  My cell phone rang.  My eyes opened and I stared at the dinging phone.  I reached out a hand and snapped it up.  The number wasn’t Scott’s, but it still wasn’t one I recognized.

“Hello?”

“Olivia?  It’s Sullivan.”

“Sullivan?  How did you get this number?”

“From Ewan.”

“Of course.  You know, I was just thinking about calling you.”

“Really?  Why?”

“Well, I got a call from...wait, why are you calling me?”

I heard Sullivan sniff into the receiver and then take in a shuddering breath.  I felt my stomach drop.  I had a feeling I knew what Sullivan was about to say.

“There’s been another murder.”


	11. Carmen & Ricky

Ewan had picked me up in the red sports car.  I had made up some lame excuse about some confusion on the lease of my new apartment to Elliott and drove my car a few blocks away.  I didn’t want Danica to see me arriving home with Ewan that evening.  She already didn’t like me as it was and I was afraid of her reaction if she found out I knew Ewan.

He didn’t say a word as we drove for fifteen minutes to a rundown neighborhood by the bay.  When we got out of the car, the stink of fish hung in the air and the wind brought with it a decaying, salty smell.  The breeze off an estuary is much different than the breeze off an ocean.  We walked around a corner, leaving the car completely alone.  I would have been nervous leaving my POS car in this neighborhood.  I thought Ewan was being very trusting, or stupid.

We turned another corner and the bright flash of police lights blinded me for a moment.  I felt a cold panic trying to claw its way through my cool exterior.  Ewan walked on, seemingly unconcerned that the police were involved.  Inside the building we took steep, dirty stairs to the second floor and then went down the left corridor.  One door was open with police tape barring the entrance.  A police officer stood out in the corridor, writing something down in a notebook.  Ewan approached him and for a fleeting moment I thought he might try to punch him or snap his neck.  Instead he placed a hand on the cop’s shoulder and said, “One or both?”

“Just one.  Carmen,” the cop answered.  He looked down the hall at me and gave me a small smile.  I instantly recognized him as the handsome blonde who had come to take Henry’s body away from Dr. Melonakos’ office.  Did they have men on the inside?  Or were these just fake uniforms?

“Is it the killer?” asked Ewan.

“We think so.  There’s no blood, no bruising, no struggle.  And there’s a number.  But the number skipped one.”

“Skipped one?”

“Yeah.  And we can’t find Ricky or get a hold of him.  We fear the worst.”

Ewan nodded and moved to duck under the tape, but the blonde stopped him.  He looked at the floor before meeting Ewan’s eyes.  “He’s not taking it well.”

Ewan cursed under his breath and ducked under the tape.  I walked to the door and hesitated.  The blonde gave me another friendly smile and held up the tape for me, gesturing that it was okay that I enter.  I entered the shabby room, but was surprised to find that it was neat and clean.  The building itself and the furniture were old and worn, but kept as well as possible.  On the floor lying on her side was the body.  She looked like she was sleeping.

The tall, willowy man I had seen with the blonde last night was kneeling not far away, taking pictures.  Sullivan was leaning on the armrest of a dingy, pink-flowered blue couch.  One arm was crossed over his stomach and supporting his other arm as he kept his mouth covered with a hand.  Ewan walked right up to the body and crouched beside it.  He put out a hand and touched the corpse on the cheek.  He pulled his hand back quickly and rubbed his fingers together as if trying to get rid of an unpleasant feeling.  He stood up.

“Where’s the number?”

“Here,” said the tall man as he came forward and moved the victim’s hand.  Underneath on the rotten floor was the number 126 written in green paint.

“Is it the same guy, Sullivan?”

Sullivan continued to stare at the body and Ewan looked at the pale figure.  “Is it the same?  Sullivan?  Sully, look at me!”

Sullivan’s dark eyes snapped to Ewan and he lowered his hand.  “Ewan, when did you get here?”

“Just now.  Can you—”

Sullivan got off the couch and walked forward.  I couldn’t tell if he was heading for the body or Ewan.  Apparently, neither did he because he stopped abruptly and looked back and forth between the two.

“Sullivan, is it our guy?”

“You know,” murmured Sullivan, softly, eerily quiet.  “I knew this might happen.  That after all this time law of averages said he was going to get someone I cared about.  But, the way you handled it all, I figured it wouldn’t be that bad.  How could it be that bad if you didn’t bat an eyelash at Kyra’s death?  If you shrugged off Hamp’s death.  If not a tear slid down your cheek when he took Geri from you.  I mean, you didn’t get on your knees and wail and scream when he killed Abel.  So, I thought, it must not matter to us.  That we live so long we truly understand death and do not–cannot–fear it.  I thought I wouldn’t feel it because you clearly felt nothing.”

Ewan shook his head.  “Sullivan—”

“But that’s not the case, is it?  No, no, this hurts.”  He suddenly let out a gasping sob and fought to hold himself together.  “This cuts, Ewan.  You fucking bastard, it hurts.”

Sullivan swayed toward the door and Ewan reached out a hand to steady him.  Sullivan flung his arm up in the air and knocked Ewan’s hand away.

“Don’t touch me!”

He pushed through the tape and the blonde stepped back in surprise.  Ewan followed Sullivan out the door and I stood in the jamb, watching the pale vampire break down in front of my eyes.

“Sullivan, get a hold of yourself,” Ewan said quietly, darkly.

“I can’t!  I can’t!  She’s dead, Ewan!  She’s as dead as the rest of them and I can’t just sit here and coolly analyze her dead body!  I was with her just last night!  Last night we were together, holding each other, loving each other, and now she’s nothing but worm meat!  And you,” he said, his voice growing hoarse.  He pointed a finger at Ewan.  “You don’t care.  You’re probably even happy she’s gone.  Because it’s not just Shannon, is it?  You hate us all.  You wish we were all dead!”

I felt the tall man come up behind me to watch the scene.  The blonde had shifted closer to the door, away from Sullivan and Ewan.  I shifted uncomfortably as a sudden terrible realization flooded Sullivan’s features.

“It’s you,” he said, barely a whisper.  “It’s you!” he screamed, suddenly louder.  “You’ve hated us so long you finally snapped.  You’ve been killing us one by one!  You’re the killer!”

Sullivan was erratic now, yelling and pointing his finger at Ewan.  The blonde took a step forward, but didn’t know what to do.  Ewan grabbed Sullivan by the wrist and he flipped out.  He started screaming and fighting against Ewan’s hold.  Down the hall a doorknob rattled as someone struggled to get their door open.

“Shit, Sully,” Ewan swore and pushed back on the crazed vampire.  He slammed him against the wall and bent over him; Sullivan’s wailing abruptly stopped.  We three at the door looked down the hall as the occupant of the other room finally got her door open.  She looked down the hall and the blonde told her to get back inside.  The woman gaped down the hall, disgusted by what she saw.  I looked over and blinked surprise as I saw Sullivan’s hands twisted in Ewan’s shirt, holding him tightly as they kissed.  Whether the woman was disgusted by two men kissing or the fact that they were doing it so close to a crime scene was anyone’s guess.  The blonde reiterated his command and after a few prolonged seconds of staring at the vampires, she slammed her door shut in a huff.

Ewan pulled back immediately and pushed Sullivan away.  The pale vampire slumped against the wall and slid to the floor, much more sedate if not settled.  Ewan cursed again and walked toward the room.  We started to move out of his way but then he turned on his heel and paced back toward Sullivan.

“Get a hold of yourself.  Or go home.  We don’t have time for shit like this.  I may not like the vast majority of my brethren, but I would never kill any of them.  And you know that.  Now, get on your feet.  And stop playing the victim.  Carmen and probably Ricky are dead.  Stop focusing on yourself.”

Sullivan looked up and I saw a steady stream of tears racing to his chin and dropping off the end like a broken faucet.  He shook his head in complete misery.  “I loved her, Ewan.  I still love her.  Her being dead doesn’t change that.  How can I love something that’s dead?  How do I make it stop?”

Ewan opened his mouth and then closed it.  He turned his back on his distraught friend and walked toward the door again.  I backed inside the room and Ewan followed me in.  He walked to the body and knelt beside it.  He beckoned me closer.  I went to him and knelt beside him.

“Can you tell if she was killed in the same way?  I mean, without having to cut her open.”

I shook my head.  “I can examine her and see that there are no signs of physical trauma and do blood tests to rule out any drugs or toxins, but I can’t confirm if her hypothalamus has been removed without doing an autopsy.”

“Could you just do her head then, from the back, and not her whole body?”

I nodded and suddenly felt a wave a guilt crash into me about how poorly I had stitched Henry back up.  I wondered if Aislinn had to see him the way I left him.

“We’ll have her body shipped to our private morgue.  You don’t have to do it tonight or anything.  How long will the body keep?”

“If it’s kept in proper storage it can last for weeks.”

He nodded and stared at the floor.  Or maybe he was looking at the number on the floor.  He cursed yet again and covered his eyes.

“I told them,” he murmured.  “I told them both to come to the complex.  They thought they would be hidden in the slums because vampires never live in such horrible conditions.  Now look at her.  I should have forced her to move.  I should have—”

He stopped and sighed.  It was one of those moments when you’re supposed to reach out a hand in comfort or offer some consoling words.  I could do neither.  I’d only known him two days, and he’d ruined my life.  I couldn’t move myself to feel much sympathy or pity for the creatures in the room.  I managed to keep my heart so hard by not looking back at Sullivan.  When he had whimpered so pitifully about the love he felt for this girl, I had felt tears prick my eyes.  I couldn’t look at him now, I might start caring.

I looked away from both Sullivan and Ewan, and in doing so, found myself facing a window.  I titled my head slightly as I noticed something white and black on the sill.  I stood up and crossed the room, trying to determine if it was a scrap of paper or something.  Once I reached the window, I saw that it was much more delicate and softer looking than paper.

“Ewan, do you have any latex gloves?”

“I do.”

I turned and saw the blonde coming toward me.  He pulled a couple of gloves from a pouch on his belt and handed them to me.  I smiled and started to put them on.

“Thank you,” I said.  “By the way, what’s your name?”

“My name is Boyd.”

“I would introduce myself but everybody already seems to know me.”

The blonde smiled.  It was a mixture between amusement and pity.  It made me feel suddenly angry.  I turned away from him and did not respond when he said it was a pleasure to meet me.  I just bent down to look at the black and white object on the sill.  I picked it up carefully with my thumb and index finger and dust fell off as it pulled free from the ledge.  It had been partially smashed into the wood and was crumpled in one corner.  The rest appeared intact and looked like a black and white striped butterfly wing.

“What did you find?”

I jumped when Ewan asked his question.  I hadn’t heard him come up behind me.  I turned to face him and held up the wing.  He leaned close to take a look at it, but did not touch it.

“Does this mean anything to you?” I asked.

He looked at me.  “Does it mean anything to you?”

“Scott called me just before Sullivan.  He said the fairy you might be looking for is a species that looks like zebra swallowtail butterflies.”

“Really?”  Ewan bent again to look closer at the wing.  Then he leaned over the sill and put his finger in the powder that fell off the wing.

“You should wear gloves or you’ll contaminate the scene,” I said crossly.

“Olivia, we don’t have a judicial system in the Underground per se.  We don’t need proof beyond the shadow of a doubt.  All we need is enough to go get our man.”

“What if you get the wrong guy?”

Ewan didn’t respond.  Instead he touched his finger to the tip of his tongue and then made a face.

“Is it a fairy?” asked Boyd.

Ewan nodded.  “Yep.  No doubt.”

I raised an eyebrow.  “So, fairy dust is real after all?”

“Yes, but—”

He cut off as he looked at the window.  He did a double take and then threw the window open.  He leaned out into the cool night air and Boyd and I exchanged looks.  We squeezed on either side of him and looked out to see what had drawn Ewan’s attention.  Across the alley on the opposite apartment building was the number 127 in bright green paint.  Down below on the alley floor was a body.

“Oh, no,” Boyd whispered.

“Fuck me,” Ewan said, a slight lilt in his voice.

“What is it?” I heard Sullivan ask from the doorway.

I turned around and regretted it instantly.  I felt my gut twist in sympathy for the poor vampire when I should be hating him.  He had managed to pull himself together to something that resembled his former self, but he looked exhausted and I was afraid that even the slightest bad news would cause him to crumble again.  I had a sudden urge to lie to him: to tell him that it was nothing.  But, Ewan crossed the room and put a hand on his shoulder.  He met his eyes briefly and then walked out the door, calling to us to follow him.  I started to move and watched Sullivan carefully.  He seemed to understand that the horror of the night was not over, but he now looked to be in even better control of himself.

Four of us filed down the hall, leaving the tall man to finish up in the apartment room.   I realized I was still holding the wing pinched between my fingers and wondered what I should do with it.  I felt a nudge on my arm and Boyd held out a plastic bag to me.  I dropped the wing inside and the blonde carefully folded the bag and slid it into a coat pocket.  That wasn’t the best way to keep evidence intact, but according to Ewan that wasn’t really an issue.

We exited out the front of the building and headed toward the alleyway.  There was only one streetlamp and shadows crawled over everything else.  I wasn’t sure if I felt comforted by the presence of three superhuman freaks or not.  Certainly they could protect me from the average mugger, but who would protect me from them?

Fortunately we only had to walk a few feet down the alley before we came across the body.  It was lying completely flat, face down on the pavement.  It seemed to have hit a pile of garbage when it landed and then rolled onto the ground.  As such it wasn’t completely broken or disfigured from the impact of the fall.  But considering what these guys’ bones were made out of, it would take a pretty significant fall to damage them.  And a two story drop just wouldn’t do the trick.

Ewan reached the body first and put out a hand to feel for a pulse.  He waited only a few moments before shaking his head and looking back at us.  I didn’t know if that was my cue to go forward or not, so I stayed put.  It was Sullivan who stepped toward the body and knelt beside it.  Then he carefully started to turn it over.  Both he and Ewan let out sickened gasps and stepped away from the body, causing it to roll flat onto its face again.  Geez.  And here I thought vampires were supposed to be all cool and calm and have stomachs of steel.  For some reason I felt the need to get the better of them.

I strode forward and put my hand on the corpse’s shoulder.  I was glad I’d left the latex gloves on.  I rolled the body over and Sullivan took a step back.  I didn’t see Ewan’s second reaction, if he had one.  I could see what had made the two vampires upset, but I’d seen far worse than this.

Half of the body’s face looked like it had been melted away with acid, revealing a very Terminator-like exposure of skull.  It especially looked robotic due to the grey color of vampire bone.  The cheek had been completely burned through and the tongue was visible in the oral cavity.  The massester and temporalis muscles had both been destroyed and as a result the jaw hung unhinged on one side. The top of the head was intact, so I tilted the chin up just to see if my sudden hunch was correct.  It was.  There was a hole burned through the roof of the mouth up into the head.

“What is it?” asked Ewan.

I stood up and started to peel the gloves off.  “Well, I’m fairly positive his hypothalamus was removed.  Albeit, a lot sloppier than the rest have been.  Y’all got an explanation for this?”

Ewan and Sullivan shrugged on either side of me.  Sullivan bent down and turned the head to get a better look at the burned side.  “Is this acid?” he asked.

I shrugged.  “Could be.  But what do I know about fairy saliva?”

“Fairy saliva doesn’t burn—” Sullivan started, and then stopped.  He remained crouched beside the body.

“Something went wrong here,” I said.  “This seems like it was very intentional.  Personal, even.”

“You mean, like whoever did this wanted him to suffer on purpose?” asked Boyd, coming up beside us.

“Yeah.”

“But, he would be dead without his hypothalamus, right?” said Ewan.  “So, he wouldn’t feel the pain.”

I shook my head and bent down again.  I pointed a finger first at one hardened ridge of flesh.  “See this?  This is bent inward, this is where the—whatever—entered.  It burned through the flesh and muscle and then made its way inside his brain case.”  I moved my finger to point at a ridge on the left side of the hole.  “And here the flesh hardened at an outward angle.  This guy was alive while the—whatever—burned its way to the hypothalamus.”

“Jesus Christ,” muttered Ewan.  “Why?”

“The killer clearly hates vampires,” said Sullivan, “that much has been evident in the violence he exhibited during his earlier killings.  But as he succeeded, his violence was tempered in favor of efficiency.  Why is he now being purposely malevolent?”

I didn’t think they really expected me to answer, so I didn’t even bother coming up with possible explanations.

“Boyd,” said Ewan, “let me see that wing.”

Boyd pulled out the plastic bag and handed it to Ewan.  He raised it close to his green eyes and squinted at it.  Sullivan stood up and put his hands on hips, head hanging down.  It looked like he was fighting to stay standing.  Ewan let the air out of his lungs in a huff.

“Fucking fairies.”

“What?” I asked.

“I’m willing to bet that our killer is using these fairies that Scott told you about.  I don’t know if the killer is here with the fairies or just tells them where to go, but it looks like he sends more than one.  And it seems that poor Ricky got a hold of one.”

“You mean, like, he squashed it against the window sill?” I asked, remembering how I had to practically pull the wing out of the grain.

“Yep.  He nailed this one and its partner or partners saw to it that he regretted it before he died.”

“How dare they?” asked Boyd heatedly.  “I mean they go around killing us because the killer has offered them who knows what, and then they take offense when we try to protect ourselves?  Why didn’t they attack the person responsible for sending them in the first place?”

“Because in case you haven’t noticed, Boyd,” said Sullivan, irritation evident in his voice, “fairies are fucking retarded.”

“Boyd,” began Ewan, “can you and Langer handle these bodies before the real cops get wind of this and show up?  Take them to the morgue in Norfolk.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem.  Is there anything else I can do?”

“Yeah, try to keep this under wraps for as long as possible.  The rest never hear from Carmen and Ricky anyway, so there’s no point in letting them know that three murders have happened so close together.  It will make them freak out even more.  And that’s the last thing we need.”

“I got it.”

Ewan turned to walk out of the alley and put a hand on the small of my back to lead me out.  He called for Sullivan to come with us.  I stepped away from his touch and he didn’t seem to care.

“Hey, Ewan,” Boyd called after us.

Ewan turned back, “Yeah?”

“You know, I think you’re handling this the best you can and I don’t want to disparage—”

“Get to the point, Boyd.”

“Don’t you think Shannon could help us?”

Ewan’s lips thinned to a white line as he pressed them together hard.  “I already asked him for help.  But you know that Shannon doesn’t do anything for free.”

Boyd hesitated before asking, “What did he want?”

“Too much.”

Ewan left the light of the single streetlamp and vanished into shadow.  Sullivan followed him and I managed to follow them because I could see Sullivan’s pale skin against the darkness flooding the streets.  We caught up with Ewan in front of the building and then the vampires stopped and faced each other.  Ewan’s face flashed blue and Sullivan’s red from the police car’s lights.

“Do you want to go home?” asked Ewan.

“I have to.  The children need me.”

“Can you take care of them right now?”

“Yeah.  I’m—I’m sorry about that outburst.  Really sorry.  I don’t know what came over me.”

“Yes, you do.  You told all of us.  And now we all know that you and Carmen weren’t ‘just friends.’  But, we all knew that already.”

It was impossible to tell because of the flashing red light, but I think he flushed slightly.  “I just didn’t expect this kind of emotion.  I didn’t react like this when my human mother died.”

Ewan shrugged.  “You knew Carmen longer.”

“But still—”  Sullivan shook his head.  “I didn’t mean that anyway.  I meant—about the things I said.  About you.”

Ewan glanced at me and then back at Sullivan.  “Well, you were right.  I didn’t grieve for any of them.  I can understand why you would think I didn’t care.  And I didn’t really.”

Sullivan made a pained face.  “Really?  Not even Geri or Abel?”

Ewan crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t answer.

“Man.”  Sullivan let out a soft, bitter laugh.  “I can only imagine how little you’d react if I died if Abel’s death meant nothing to you.”

“Sully, you mean more to me than Abel ever could.  You do realize that I could have stopped your tantrum just as easily by snapping your neck.”

This time I was positive Sullivan flushed hotly.  “Yeah, uh—yeah.”

Ewan turned his back on his friend and walked away.  “I’d be sad if you died, Sullivan.  Where’d you park?”

Sullivan stared at the ground a few moments and then looked at me.  He turned away from me and said, “Around the corner to the left.”

“Well, I’ll drive you home.  I don’t want you driving off a bridge or something.”

I ran to catch up with the two vampires who were leaving me behind in a very bad part of town.  Jerks.  Murders notwithstanding, couldn’t they even care one lick about poor little me?  I rounded the corner to where we had parked and nearly ran into Sullivan.  I peeked around him to see what he was looking at.  Ewan stood beside what was left of his car.

The tires were gone and it was propped up on cinderblocks.  The doors and hood were gone, the engine and various other car parts that I could never begin to guess their names looked like they had been stripped too.  Through the windshield I could see wires poking up from the dashboard; the CD player must have been lifted as well.  I squinted my eyes and saw that the chairs were gone too.  I looked over at Ewan.  His back was to me, so I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking or feeling.  Suddenly he turned and shouted, pounding his fist on top of the car’s roof.  The car buckled in the middle and crashed to the ground.  I jumped in surprise and then stared in shock.  Okay, so here was my first real proof of just how strong vampires were.

“I guess we’ll be taking my car, then,” said Sullivan.

 

The car ride back was mostly quiet, and just a tad awkward.  Sullivan’s green (excuse me, olive green metallic) BMW Z4 was a two seater, and there were definitely three of us.  I wondered exactly how we were going to do this, but Ewan merely held out his hand and Sullivan surrendered his keys.  They both got in the car and Sullivan waited patiently with the door open for me to figure out that I had to sit on his lap.  I considered waiting for Boyd and the tall guy to finish up so I could get a ride home in the cop car, but then I remembered they had to take care of the bodies.  I just wanted to go home and get some dinner; that is, if the Springs had saved me anything.  So, I finally moved myself past the point of caring and climbed in on top of Sullivan.  I was not particularly pleased when he announced with a grunt that I weighed more than I looked, but at least he buckled the safety belt over us both.

I wasn’t particularly bothered by the situation as we drove back toward Danica’s neighborhood.  Sullivan spoke quietly about the children and Ewan drove moderately safely.  It wasn’t until Sullivan lapsed into silence that I began to feel awkward.  Because then he wrapped his arms around me and leaned his head against mine.  I didn’t think he was crying, but I didn’t want to be his teddy bear.  I didn’t want to care that he was in pain.  But, I found myself wishing that I could figure out how to catch this killer so that Sullivan wouldn’t lose anyone else close to him.  What if the killer broke form and went after the children?  I wasn’t sure Sullivan could survive a loss like that.

“Olivia?”

Upon hearing my name I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Ewan.  We were parked on the street where I had left my car.  I suddenly didn’t want to go into the Springs’ house.  I didn’t want to act like today had been a normal day.  If I stayed with the vampires, at least then I could be myself.  But, no sense in letting them know I preferred their company to that of humans.  So, I moved to unbuckle the seat belt and felt Sullivan’s head fall slack onto my shoulder: he was sleeping.  I stopped moving, not knowing what to do.

“Olivia.”

I met Ewan’s perfect eyes.

“We can’t stay here all night,” he said gently.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll make sure he gets to bed.”

I nodded and began to untangle myself from the drowsy vampire who had already partially awakened.  Sullivan let me go and I said “goodnight” softly as I exited the car.  I heard the power window roll down behind me.  I turned to look back in the car.

“Aislinn will meet you up in Stafford this weekend.  She has your cell phone number.”

I nodded.  “Okay.”

“When do you think you’ll be back and ready to move in officially?”

“I don’t know.  I have to talk to my landlord and break my lease and even though the FBI is handling it, I still need to find a mover.”

“Aislinn will take care of that.  Come back as soon as you can.”

I blinked.  Why the rush?  “Well, I can’t come back before Sunday at the earliest anyway.  I’m having dinner with my parents on Saturday.”

“Is that so?”

“You say that like you think I’m lying.”

“I don’t think you’re lying.”

The power window began to roll up.  Sullivan looked at me and his dark eyes were nothing but bottomless pits in the blackened night.  “Thank you, Olivia.  Good—”  His voice was cut off as the window slid home.  I heard the gears shift and then the car pealed away from the curb.  I walked toward my little blue Honda and saw the last two days replay in my head.  It felt like it had been years since this all began.  I wondered if I was getting stress lines.  If I was, Ewan would be the next vampire to go.


	12. Uninvited

Ah, Stafford: a city of familiar comforts and normalcy.  No wereanimal-hating vampires, no vampire-killing fairies, no potential three ways—five ways—however many ways on a couch with oversexed pretty boys.  Safety.  Yeah, I know, I’m laughing too.  Or I would be laughing if I weren’t constantly looking under my bed or jumping at every noise Fuzzball made.  It was now Saturday evening and all morning and afternoon had been hell.  I kept waiting for Ewan to pop up somewhere, but he never did.  And neither did Aislinn for that matter.  I felt something that may have been concern but decided to classify as curiosity about her whereabouts.  It would be a shame if the killer got her.  But, if the killer got all the vampires by the end of next week, I’d be off the hook.  Except then I wouldn’t have a free apartment.  Hmm, this was a tough call.  Dead vampires and no apartment or living vampires and free apartment.  What did I want more?

I contemplated this as I stood in front of my bathroom mirror and fixed my make-up.  My mother would kill me if I showed up to dinner looking like a nice, normal human being.  No, I had to show up looking like a nice, normal human being that took three hours to get ready.  I was wearing the classic little black dress.  It showed enough skin to be fashionable, but covered enough leg and cleavage that I wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of my father.  There were matching black heels and black hose.  I saved the hose for last.  I hate the stuff.  I hate it so much, in fact, that I only own thigh highs.  Which have their pros and cons.  Pro: no bunching crotches and you don’t sweat as much.  Con: without garters they tended to slip down as the night wore on, and if you wore garters it made you look even more like a lady of the night than you already did wearing the thigh highs alone.

I jumped as someone knocked on my door and the lipstick I was applying missed my lips and hit the tip of my nose.  I frowned and grabbed a Kleenex to wipe it off as I headed for the door.  I was so involved in scrubbing at my nose that I didn’t bother to look through the peephole.  I opened the door and looked over the white fluff in front of my eyes.  I dropped my hand quickly and couldn’t decide to frown or slam the door.  Here was Ewan.  He’d popped up after all.

He was wearing khakis that fit him impeccably.  A dark blue, lightweight sweater made of some very expensive fabric clung to his chest and outlined his perfectly toned torso.  His eyes should have clashed with the blue, but they were somehow darker, like a Sprite can in shadow, and complemented the outfit wonderfully.  His hair was still that orangey-red and threw off the look.  But not enough.  He looked good.  Damn.

“What?” I groused.

“Can I come in?”

“Do you need an invitation?”

“No, but it would be impolite to just barge in.”

I gave him a look.  “Since when you do you care about politeness?”

He shrugged.  “Good point,” he said, and barged in.

Well, maybe not barged, took a couple steps inside my home, but that was close enough.  Fuzzball rubbed against his leg and meowed.  Ewan crouched down to scratch him behind the ears.  He moved into the touch and meowed again.  Traitor.

I walked away from the vampire and realized I didn’t know where I was going.  I turned back around and saw Ewan close the door behind him.  He looked at me and smiled.

“Why are you here?”

“You said you were having dinner with your parents tonight.”

I waited for him to explain further.  He didn’t.  “And?” I prompted.

“I want to meet your parents.”

I put my hands in the air as if defending off a blow and then pointed them both at Ewan.  I wasn’t quite sure what the dramatic hand gesturing was for, but my words were clear.

“No.  No, no, no, no.”

Ewan grinned at me.  “For some reason I get the impression you’re not ready for me to meet the folks.”

“Uh, yeah, like, never.”

“Come on, Olivia.  Don’t be shy.”

“Shy?  This is not shy.  This is the desire to protect them.”

“Protect them?  You think I’m going to jump them and feed on them?  Even I know that a girl is not likely to be friends with you if you eat her parents.”

“Don’t even joke about it,” I snapped.

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.  Go away.”

I marched into my bedroom and grabbed the hose off the bed.  I plopped down and began to struggle into the fabric.  My dress hitched up pretty high, but I didn’t care.  Ewan should have enough sense to stay in the living room.

“Olivia, look, I—are you wearing thigh highs?”

I looked up from my struggles and felt my eye twitch.  I hoped it wouldn’t continue through the night.  Ewan leaned against the jamb with his arms crossed over his chest and looked at me.  His eyes were focused on my legs and I let my foot fall back to the floor so that my dress wasn’t as high.  Ewan managed to look up to meet my eyes.

“Do you mind?” I asked, as irritated as I could make my voice.

“Why do people always ask that question?  Clearly the offending party doesn’t mind.  It’s the aggrieved party that has the problem.”

I opened my mouth and then shook my head and shook a fist at him.  “Just get out.”

If the twisting of his lips weren’t enough of a clue, his shaking shoulders made it obvious he found me amusing and not the least threatening.  But why would he?  He could break cars in half with a single blow from his hand.  He could survive gunshot wounds.  Why would violence from me worry him?

“Go away.  You’re not coming tonight.  Besides, it would be awkward.  My mom is trying to set me up with someone and it would be bad if I brought a date.”

“A date?  Hmm, I’ve been upgraded from friend already.”

“Ewan—”

I think he could hear the “fuck off” in my voice because he quickly asked, “Do you want to be set up?”

“What?”

“Do you want to be set up with this guy?”

“No.”  I answered before I meant to.

“Well, then what better way for you to deter him than to show up with someone?”

“It’s a dinner party.  What are you going to do?  Drink the blood from your steak?”

“Food allergies.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll just say I have food allergies.  Then I won’t have to eat anything and no one will be suspicious.  In fact, people will feel sorry for me and I have some wonderful stories I can tell about these unique allergies that have been so troublesome.”

I worked on getting my hose up on the other leg.  Screw the vampire, let him watch.  I shook my head as I worked.  Finally I looked up and tried to make my face as cool and disinterested as much as nine months at the FBI had taught me.

“You are not coming to my parents’ house.  I’m not letting you.”

“Letting me?  That’s funny.  You say that like you’re in control of the situation.”

Ooo.  That got me mad.  I flew off the bed and marched over to him, hands gesticulating in no coherent way again.  He grabbed my wrists and spun me against the wall before I could even open my mouth.  He put my hands above my head on the wall and leaned his arms against mine.  He stood far enough way that his body didn’t touch me, but I wouldn’t have noticed anyway.  I was focused on his eyes.  They hadn’t changed, as far as I could tell, but being this close to them was hypnotizing.  Yesterday in the elevator the orange emergency lights had bleached some of the color from them.  Now they looked like melted green metal, or maybe melted emeralds.  There was even a slight movement to them the way molten metal will shift somewhat though it’s not really boiling.

“Why are you so angry?” he asked softly.

For the life of me, I couldn’t think of a single reason.  Then I shook myself and forced my eyes to close.  Not looking into his eyes gave me a little strength.

“Because you’re an intrusive, insensitive bastard.”

“Intrusive I’ll buy.  Why insensitive?” His breath was cool against my face.

I could have thought of a number of reasons pertaining directly to me but what came out of my mouth was, “The way you brushed off Sullivan’s pain.  The way you treated Elijah even though he was only trying to help you.”

Ewan laughed and stepped away from me.  I opened my eyes and saw him pacing my room, looking over at me with a perplexed expression.

“You already care about them?  Why don’t you hate them too?”

“I never said I hated you.”

“Not with your mouth.”

“Ewan.”  I let my head fall back against the wall.  Why didn’t he understand?  But more importantly, how could I make him understand?  I had a feeling if I ever did it wouldn’t be tonight.  I opened my eyes and started.  The room was empty.  I hadn’t heard him leave and he’d had to walk right by me to do so.  I raised my hands to cover my face, remembered my make-up, and lowered them again.

The clock on my nightstand glowed 5:15.  My parents’ house was only about twenty-five minutes away, but I wanted to get there early.  Especially if I had to explain Ewan.  I groaned.  I couldn’t believe I was actually considering taking him with me.  Then I realized I really wasn’t in control of the situation.  What could I do that I hadn’t already done?  If his cool breath was any indication, he might still not be feeding.  So, maybe if I shot him this time, he’d stay down.  But it’d be a shame to ruin that nice sweater.

I stepped into my black pumps and grabbed a small black purse that was actually a little faded and didn’t match the rest of the outfit very well.  Too bad.  My mom could just complain about it when I got there.

Out in the living room Ewan had made himself comfortable on my couch and Fuzzball had made himself comfortable in Ewan’s lap.  I couldn’t imagine the amount of hair that would be on his pants when he stood.  It would serve him right.

“All right, let’s go,” I said in a voice that I knew wasn’t that friendly.

“Oh, you mean I can come after all?”

“Oh don’t even,” I glared at him.  “Just get up and come on.”

He put Fuzzball on the couch without even asking me if he was allowed on the furniture.  But then again, who could tell a cat no to more than two pieces of furniture and get away with it?  The kitchen table was about the only thing I didn’t let him on.  But the vampire didn’t know that.  Very intrusive.  And very clean.  No cat hair on his pants.  I narrowed my eyes.  Only magic could have kept anyone’s pants fur free after being loved on by an alley cat.

“Why do you look suspicious?”

“Do you promise vampires don’t have magic powers?”

“We can’t control cat fur if that’s what you mean.”

He smiled at me and I wanted to say or do something that would knock the self-pleased expression off his face.  I was still thinking about what I could do when I just opened the door and nearly ran into Tommy Wayne.  He was carrying four grocery bags and didn’t look happy about it.  He was ten and for some reason never seemed happy about anything.  And as he got older, it’s wouldn’t get better.  He had one of those pushed up noses and his eyes were too close together.  No, he wouldn’t be much of a lady killer with those looks, and the cheery disposition sure didn’t help.

Struggling down the hall with eight bags a piece was his older brother, Danny, and their mother, Trudy Wayne.  Danny was fourteen and had gotten his father’s good looks and dark coloring, but that was the only thing he got from the deadbeat.  He’d left Trudy in the lurch a few months after Tommy was born.  Maybe that was why Tommy was so sour all the time.

“Olivia!” Trudy called out and smiled at me.

Danny looked up but as soon as he made eye contact looked away.  If he was fair of skin I would have been positive he was blushing.  As it was, I just had body language to indicate he had a crush on me.

“Hello, Mrs. Wayne.”

I grimaced as soon as I said it.  Trudy had been trying to break me of that habit for nine months now.  She was only eleven years older than me, younger than Michael Farlini, but I’d always felt like I should call her by a title.  I mean, she was a grown-up with a job and kids.  But I was a doctor and an employee of the FBI.  Why didn’t I feel grown-up?

“Olivia, really!” she said exasperatedly.  She handed her keys and four of her bags to Tommy and he staggered ahead to escape into the apartment.  I’m not sure if I’d ever heard him speak before.

“I’m sorry, Trudy.  I guess my Southern breeding just takes over sometimes.”

I smiled at Danny as he stood there under his burdens.  He could have gone inside, but he decided to stay so he could talk to me.  How cute.

“Oh, who’s this?”

And in a flash, the safe, cozy neighbor chatting shattered around me like safety glass.  No large shards would plunge into me and kill me, but tiny little pieces cut along my skin.  I remembered Ewan threatening Danny’s life.  And now he stood in the hall with the kid and his mother.  I tried not to let this show on my face.  I smiled, but I was sure it didn’t reach my eyes.

“Trudy, this is Ewan Quinn.  Ewan, this is my neighbor, Trudy Wayne.”  I didn’t try to define my relationship with Ewan.

Trudy didn’t notice.  She just smiled up at Ewan a little starry-eyed and raised a hand when he offered his.  Instead of shaking her hand, he raised it to his lips and laid a lingering kiss on the back of her hand.  I stared in disbelief.  What was it with him?  Why did women—hell, throw men in there too—find him so damn attractive?  Trudy didn’t even try to extract her hand.  Ewan just lowered his slowly and smiled.  Trudy shook herself and blushed slightly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ewan.”

“The pleasure is mine,” he said flatly.

Trudy took in a quick breath and let it out slowly.  Maybe she’d heard something I hadn’t.

“And this is Danny,” I said looking pointedly at Ewan.

He didn’t seem to notice my glare and smiled at Danny.  He didn’t offer to shake hands because Danny’s hands were full, but it was a good thing that they were because I think Danny might have refused him.

“Olivia, you didn’t tell me you were seeing somebody.”

I guess I hadn’t mentioned Michael to her.  Or to anybody.  “I’m not seeing anyone,” I said.  Truth.  “We just met actually.”  More truth.  Good.

Trudy smiled at me in an irritatingly knowing way.  Irritating in that I’m sure both Ewan and Danny knew what she meant.  “Well, I’m quite jealous you met him first.”

“Mom!” Danny said, embarrassed.  He pushed past his mother and refused to look at me as he sought the refuge of his apartment.

“Oh, Danny,” Trudy said in that motherly way they have.  That was the reason I wanted to call her Mrs. Wayne.  She reminded me of a woman from my childhood who had always spoken to me in that tone.  No, I wasn’t a troublesome child; I was adventurous.

“I’m sorry M—Trudy.  But, we’re dangerously close to running late.”

“Oh, I understand.  You two run along.  Have a good time,” she said with a slightly too obvious smile.  Geez.

I turned to lock my door and waited until I heard the Wayne’s door shut before turning on Ewan.

“What the hell do people see when they look at you?”

“What do you see, Olivia?”

I stared at him.  He looked the same.  He was cute, but not handsome.  I noticed, really for the first time, that his features were fine and delicate, but he wasn’t pretty either.  He was just average.  If maybe a little more appealing because of the simply unbelievable body and amazing eyes.

I shook my head.  “I don’t know, but what I see isn’t what everyone else sees.”

Ewan shrugged.  “I’m not sure if it’s too late or too early for you to begin hallucinating like this.”

“Oh, shut-up.”

And he did shut-up.  Which made the twenty-five minute drive more than a little uncomfortable.  He decided to drive and I wasn’t gripping the seatbelt, which meant he was being careful.  I wondered why.  Me, suspicious?  Hell yeah.

Ewan parked the white Subaru in front of my parents’ house much too soon for me to be ready to do this.  What on earth was I going to tell my parents?  I was bringing a strange man to dinner who I hadn’t even hinted about.  But then again, how could I?  I’d only known him for three days.  This was not going to go over well.  Especially since I was supposed to be meeting Ronald tonight.

I stood on the porch and looked at the doorbell for a good five minutes.  Finally Ewan pushed the button and we could hear the chime inside the house.  Footsteps sounded down the hall.  Oh, my God.  My father was coming.


	13. Meet the Parents

The door swung open and my father stood smiling in the doorway.  He’s about six feet tall and still has the majority of his light brown hair, though it’s greying at the sides.  I felt a sudden sense of security wash through me as he smiled at me.  I stepped forward to give him a hug and rubbed my cheek against the soft cotton of his off white sweater.  Oh, yeah, I’m a daddy’s girl.

“Hello, little pumpkin.  Good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Dad.”

“Well, who’s this?”

I stayed hugging my dad for a couple more seconds, making a face.  Stupid Ewan.  I finally pulled away with a smile and turned toward the vampire.  Good grief, the vampire.

“Dad, this is Ewan Quinn.  Ewan, this is my dad, Rick Milligan.”

Ewan and my father shook hands with “pleased to meet you” going both ways.  My mother appeared down the hall, wiping her hands on an apron.  She smiled when she saw me, and then shock when she saw Ewan, and then a perfect Southern hostess smile slipped into place.

“Olivia!  You didn’t tell me you were bringing company.”  She gave me a look that told me I should have let her know.

“Sorry, Mom.  It was kinda last minute.  This is Ewan Quinn.  Ewan, my mother, Hillary Milligan.”

Ewan took my mother’s hand and kissed her lightly on the knuckles.

“A pleasure,” he said, smiling.

My mother blinked, and then smiled nauseatingly sweetly.  Ewan had done it again.  I had to know what was going on with his undeniably invisible charm.  Sullivan was a little cracked right now; maybe I could wheedle it out of him.  Or Elijah.  He seemed to overly like me for some reason.

My parents ushered us down the hallway to the kitchen, asking the typical questions you ask the strange man your daughter has brought home.  Where was he from, what did he do.  I was surprised to learn that he was from “Kansas City, Missouri” and he was a “contractor for a private firm.”  I glared at his back.  Lies, all lies.  He scratched the back of his neck.  Maybe he felt the death glare boring into his skull.

“Well, Olivia,” my mom said, turning to look at me.  Her black dress with lime green flowers didn’t quite fit in the blue and yellow kitchen.  “I guess you’ll need to set another place at the table, but I don’t know what to do about dinner!  I only bought six chops.”

Yum.  Pork chops on the grill.  Before I could open my mouth to say anything, Ewan beat me to it.

“Oh, that’s quite all right, Mrs. Milligan.  I don’t eat meat anyway.”

“Oh, you’re a vegetarian?” my dad inquired.  He didn’t sound entirely thrilled.  My dad didn’t believe you could really trust anybody who didn’t eat meat.

“In a manner of speaking,” Ewan smiled pleasantly.  “It’s mostly for health reasons.  I get sick when I eat meat.  And a lot of other things,” he added with a laugh.

Well, that was the truth.  I wondered if he really hadn’t lied at all yet.  He could have been from Kansas City for all I knew.  Though he did say his parents were from Ireland.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” my mom said patting his hand.  “Is there anything special you need?  Are you on a particular diet?”

“Well, I do have a strict diet I have to follow.  That’s one of the reasons I wanted to make the trip out here a surprise.  I didn’t want you to have to go to any trouble finding and preparing something I could eat.”

“Oh, what a sweet boy you are.  I wouldn’t have minded.  I still don’t.  What can you eat?”

“Watermelon,” he said with a shrug.

My parents laughed and I glowered harder at his back.  What an irritating little worm.  Why couldn’t anyone else see through him?  Granted they weren’t looking for vampire warning signs, but still.

“Olivia?”

“Yes, Mom?”

“Will you set another place at the table?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll help you,” Ewan offered.

I pulled a plate from the cupboard and rolled my eyes.  “It really doesn’t require two people.”

“I know, but I want to help.”

“Oh, Olivia, let him help,” my dad said.  “The last couple boyfriends you brought over you didn’t dare want to leave alone with us.”

I wanted to say that Ewan wasn’t my boyfriend, but then again, I didn’t really want to leave my parents alone with him.

“That could be dangerous, Olivia,” Ewan said chidingly, “Your parents could tell embarrassing stories about you and really give me something to sink my teeth into.”

He grinned at me and flashed his little pointy incisors.  I gave him a look that could have killed kudzu.  I turned and pushed on the swinging door that separated the kitchen and dining room.  I didn’t protest when Ewan followed with a napkin and silverware in his hands.  The door had barely swung back when I turned on him.

“You are _so_ not funny.  There will be rules for tonight.  Rule number one: no jokes, comments, or implications involving eating my parents.  Got it?”

“Understood.  Rule two: you have to be nice to me.”

“Forget it.”

“Then forget rule one.  For every rule you make, I get to make one.”

“Ewan!”

I put the plate down a little hard and winced as it clacked dully on the tablecloth.  He put his items down a little more gently and walked toward me.  I backed up until I hit a wall.  Ewan kept coming and this time he didn’t leave any space between us.  He flattened me against the wall with his body.  It was amazing how the soft lines of his clothes hid just how hard his body was.  Nothing but muscle.  I started to raise my arms to push him away, but he grabbed my wrists and held them pinned at my sides.  He leaned down a little and forced me to meet his eyes.

“Rules one and two: no jokes about eating your parents, you have to be nice to me in front of them.  Rule three?”

This was so unfair.  There were only two things that I found attractive about Ewan.  One was pressed solidly against me and the other was staring me in the eyes.  I didn’t have his orangey hair as a buffer.  So, think of a rule to help with that.

“Rule three: you can’t touch me.”

“Rule four: I can’t touch you unless you break rule two.”

Damn.  That could be hard.  “Rule five: do not act like an overly possessive boyfriend when Ronald shows up.”

“Rule six: be nice to Aislinn tomorrow.”

I blinked.  I hadn’t expected that at all.  “Okay,” I said.

“Good.”  Ewan moved slowly away from me and I was a little embarrassed by the fact that my body was sorry to feel him go.  “Any more rules?”

“I’m sure more will come up as the night goes on.”

Ewan moved to get an extra chair that stood forlornly in a dark corner.

“Can you really eat watermelon?” I asked, rubbing my wrists.  I hadn’t realized it at the time, but he had gripped them pretty hard.

“Yep.  It’s mostly water anyway.”

“Only like ninety-two percent.  What does your body do with the rest of it?”

“We don’t eat the rind.”

“Doesn’t matter.  It’s not _just_ water.”

Ewan shrugged.  “Don’t know.  You’re the scientist.”

“Well, I might know if I had more time to examine your anatomy.”

“I don’t recall rushing you with Henry.  You could have explored more then.”

“Well, as _I_ recall you kept pestering me.  What killed him?  How did he die?” I mimicked in a high pitched voice.  Okay, maybe not mimicked, but mocked.  Yeah, that works.

Ewan turned to look at me with a hand on his hip.  “So, you’re saying that if I hadn’t ‘pestered’ you, you would have explored the body more fully?”

I frowned at him.  Of course I wouldn’t have.  But, screw him.  “Yes,” I said pointedly.

Ewan “tsked” at me.  “You’re lying,” he said in a sing-song voice.

“You’re a dick,” I mimicked.  There we go.  That was a mimic.

The doorbell rang.  I felt my stomach turn.  Oh, this was going to be so bad.  I was going to come off looking like a cold-hearted bitch.  Our parents had planned this dinner party with the intention of setting Ronald and me up.  And I had brought a “date.”  I’d shot him down before I’d even met the guy.  And what if he was the love of my life and Ewan had spoiled it all?  Not likely.  I remembered Ronald from junior high: a mean-spirited little prick.  But then again, everybody had personality flaws in junior high.  It was one of the reasons why those three years of life sucked the hardest.

My mom poked her head in through the swinging door.  “The Wares are here.  Be nice.”  Then she ducked back out again.  I didn’t bother to look back at Ewan to see his expression and just walked into the kitchen.  I heard my dad down the hall at the door.  He was greeting and taking coats and my mother was straightening last minute details in the impeccably clean sitting room.  Steps came down the hall and I backed up to leave the entrance clear.  And to try to hide in the shadows.  I ran into Ewan and true to the rules he didn’t touch me to try and steady me.  I wavered and stuck a hand out to the wall to catch myself.

The Wares came in with me grasping at the wall and stepping all over Ewan’s feet.  I smiled and tried a laugh.  The Wares and my parents laughed with me.

“Careful, the floors are a little slippery.”

“No they’re not, you’re just a klutz,” my dad said cheerfully.

Gee, thanks, Dad.  I turned a glare to Ewan to let him know how unhappy with him I was.  He kept a neutral face as he looked back.

“Are there to be exceptions to rule three?” he murmured softly.

I thought for a moment.  No way.  He’d take advantage of that one too easily.  “No,” I said and walked to the Wares.  My mom reintroduced me to Mr. and Mrs. Ware and then formally introduced me to Ronald.  He was about six feet tall with dark brown hair and lovely dark brown eyes.  The hair fell to his collar, and while I’m not a big fan of that length on men, it didn’t look too bad on him.  He wore a striped dress shirt of earth tones with no tie and the top button undone.  The shirt was tucked into brown slacks and the shiny finish on his brown dress shoes seemed a little out of place with the rest of the outfit.  But, overall, he wasn’t too bad.  In fact, he was quite cute.  Much better looking than I remembered.  I smiled and hoped I was better looking than he remembered.

“Olivia,” Ronald said, shaking my hand, “it’s a pleasure to see you again.  Gosh, it’s been about, fifteen years at least.”

“At least.”  I smiled flirtatiously without exactly meaning to.  “The years have been kind.  I remember you as a short and thin second-stringer for the basketball team.”

Ronald laughed, and it was a very pleasant, friendly laugh.  “You’re being too kind.  I was third string and I wasn’t thin, I was scrawny.”

Everyone laughed.  Well, I didn’t look to see if Ewan laughed, but the rest of us did.

“And you,” he continued, “you were the pretty, popular girl every guy had a crush on.”

“Oh, now that’s an out right lie and you know it.”

“Well, that’s the way I saw you.  But you definitely aren’t pretty anymore.  No, you’ve elevated to full on beautiful.”

I smiled and tried not to be too pleased with the comment.  But how can a girl not be?  Our parents smiled slyly at each other.  Then Ewan cleared his throat.  I barely refrained from making a face.

“I’m sorry,” I said, as sincerely as I could, “I forgot to introduce you.  Mr. and Mrs. Ware, Ronald—”

“Please,” he interrupted, “call me Ronnie.”

I hoped I didn’t wince.  “Uh, this is Ewan Quinn.  We work together.”

“Oh, you work together?” my mother asked, looking both suspicious and relieved.  “I thought Ewan was a contract worker.”

“He is.  He contracts specialists for different law departments.”

That was a blatant lie.  Hell, I didn’t even know if law enforcement agencies did that sort of thing.  I doubted it.

“He called me in on a special case he’s working on.”  There we are.  Back to the truth.  The truth is always easier to keep track of.  “We’re right in the middle of the investigation and we’re both on call unfortunately.  I don’t think we’ll be called away tonight, but if we are, we need to go together.”

There, that explained his presence here and also directed our relationship into a purely professional and platonic category.  Ronnie—damn that name—seem pleased with that categorization, as were all of our parents.  I don’t think Ewan gave a rat’s ass.  Ewan extended his arm and he and Ronnie shook hands.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ware.  Now that we’re all here, I’m sure we can vamp things up a bit.”

I ran my tongue over my teeth and turned to look at him.  His smile went all the way to his eyes and lit them up like lights on a Christmas tree.  He was enjoying himself way too much.

“Well, dinner is almost ready, so why don’t you all have a seat in the living room?  Olivia, can you help me with the tea?”

“Sure.”

“Oh,” said Mrs. Ware as she headed for the refrigerator.  “I brought over some pistachio dream dessert.”

“Wonderful!” my mom exclaimed.

I watched nervously as Ewan followed the human men into the living room.  I wouldn’t be able to monitor him from the kitchen.  If he did anything clever, i.e., stupid, I would totally kick his ass.  Oh yeah, I was physically incapable of kicking his ass.  Well, maybe I’d tattle on him to Shannon.  Of course, that might be a little harsh.

I concentrated on pouring the tea and not on what I had done by bringing what amounted to a potential murderer into my parents’ home.  I stopped before I poured a seventh glass.  I looked into the living room and all the men were laughing about something, even Ewan.

“Ewan,” I said and he looked right at me.  As if he didn’t need to scan the general direction of my voice because he was aware of exactly where I was.  Or maybe I was just paranoid.  “Can you drink tea?”

“Does it have sweetener in it?”

“No, not yet.”

“Just don’t add anything to it and I should be fine.”

He smiled and returned to the conversation.  I seriously thought about adding a lot of sugar, just to see what might happen to him.  But if what happened to Elijah would happen to him, I didn’t want that to be at the dinner table.  I left his tea alone.

“Gentlemen!” my mom called.  “Come to the table.  Dinner’s ready.”

I was placing the last glass on the table when everyone came into the room.  My dad and Mr. Ware were laughing uproariously and Ewan was smiling somewhat spitefully.  Ronnie looked a touch angry.  What had Ewan done?  I didn’t have a chance to give him a warning glare because we were all seated and I was stuck between Ronnie and Ewan.  Just a slightly uncomfortable situation.  The food began to be passed around and I turned to Ronnie.

“So, Ron…”  I paused.  He didn’t correct me, so I decided to stick with that name.  “How is work?  I heard you just made junior partner.”

“Yes, I did actually.  I was up for it against two other strong competitors, but I was chosen.  I’m glad to know my work is being recognized.”

“Yes, corporate litigation is so highly underappreciated,” Ewan said mildly.

I missed everyone else’s reaction because I turned to look fully at him.

“Well, it is,” Ron said a little defensively.  “There are a lot of corporations out there that get falsely accused of wrong doing because everyone assumes that all corporations are out to get the little people.”

“Exactly,” Ewan agreed.  “Big executive scandals and mismanaging of other businesses have made it difficult for honest companies to continue their work without appearing to be ruthless sometimes.  Especially in the courtroom.”

Our parents nodded in agreement and Ron seemed pleased that Ewan saw things his way.  He had completely smoothed over his pseudo-insult from before.  But I knew better.  I knew that tone in his voice already.  It was the one he used with me when he was just telling me what I wanted to hear.

“Would you pass the rolls, please?” he asked my father.

“Of course,” he replied and handed the vampire the basket.

Ewan smiled and said, “Fang you very much.”

It was so subtle.  I bet most of them didn’t hear him correctly.  And if they had, they probably thought it was just a slip in pronunciation.  Unless you knew he would mean to say something like that.  I reached my hand under the table and dug my nails into his leg.  He didn’t react to the pain—if he felt any—and turned to look at me.

“Rule seven,” I said smiling politely, “no more puns.”

Ewan grinned at me.  I was suddenly dreading rule eight.

“Rule?  What rules?” my mom asked.

“Oh, nothing,” I said, not taking my eyes off the scheming vampire.  “Just an inside joke.”

Ewan returned his attention the roll he had placed on his plate and heaved a sigh.  Then he pulled a piece off and began to chew on it determinedly.  I really hoped he would be able to keep it down for the rest of the night.

I was just starting to feel the tension drain from my body and beginning to enjoy myself when Ewan got a phone call.  He excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen.  I tried to focus on what Ron was saying, but my eyes kept drifting to the door.  I did manage to notice that Ron had been doing most of the talking.  He didn’t ask me too much about my life and job, not that I wanted to volunteer much information, but he could have asked.  He seemed happy to talk about himself.  But, at least it was interesting.  Most of the time.

Ewan came back in with a neutral expression and I stood up too quickly.  I hit my legs on the end of the table and shook everyone’s dishes.  My parents looked concerned, knowing what my job entailed, and the Wares looked somewhat displeased by ability to shift my attention from Ron so easily.

“What’s going on?” I asked as Ewan circled the table.

“Unfortunately, I have to leave early this evening.”  He dropped the key to his car into my hand.  “You can stay though.  Someone will pick me up.  You can drive my car home and return it to me when you get back to Norfolk.”

“Ewan, what’s happened?”  I grabbed his arm and made him look at me.  I felt a ball of uneasiness form in my gut as I imagined some poor faceless vampire dead in an alleyway or something.  I tried to keep the vampire faceless because I didn’t want to see someone I knew with a hole burned into his or her face.

“It’s nothing to do with the case.  It’s a personal matter.”

He turned to address the table, but I kept a hold of his arm.  The unease was building slowly to dread.

“Is Sullivan okay?”

Ewan pulled his arm from my grasp.  “I don’t know.  But, the call wasn’t about him.  So, don’t worry, Olivia.  It’s no one you know.”

No one I know.  That meant Elijah, Aislinn, and the children were okay.  Then I wondered if this was a problem concerning the Brothers.  They seemed a little out of it yesterday.  But, technically, I knew them too.  So, I didn’t pry.  I didn’t want to worry about it.

“Mr. and Mrs. Milligan, thank you for having me over.  I am sorry about suddenly dropping in like this and I am terribly sorry that I was unable to fully enjoy your meal, Mrs. Milligan.  It smelled wonderful though.  Mr. and Mrs. Ware, Ronnie, it was a pleasure.”

Everyone murmured something and Ron just kind of inclined his head in perfunctory acknowledgement.  I don’t think he liked Ewan too much.  At least here was someone who wasn’t besotted with him.

“I’m going to see Ewan out,” I said and followed the vampire out of the room.

We walked to the end of the hall and I looked around for his coat, then remembered he hadn’t brought one.  He opened the door and turned back to look at me.

“Don’t worry, Olivia.  Nobody is dead and no one is having a psychological breakdown.”

I nodded.  Then shook my head.  “I’m not worried.  That would imply caring.”

Ewan smiled sardonically.  “If Sullivan died, you’d cry for weeks over him.”  I started to protest, but he interrupted.  “Don’t think it’s because you’ve softened to us.  Sully just has that effect on people.”

“Why does he hate to be called Sully?”

“Ask him yourself.  Remember, you promised to be nice to Aislinn tomorrow.  I kept up my end of the deal.”

“I remember.”

“Speaking of which.  I get a rule eight.”

I frowned.  “What do you want?”

“A goodnight kiss.”

I couldn’t stop myself from both rolling my eyes and sticking my tongue out.  “Oh come on.  Come up with something plausible at least.”

“I’m not talking anything involved.  Just a quick kiss.  And besides, then you’ll be able to prove to yourself that there’s nothing special about me and that it doesn’t mean anything to be near me.”

He was trying to trap me.  If I refused to kiss him then it would be like I was afraid I would feel something.  But if I did kiss him, well, then I kissed him.  I wasn’t going to fall for it either way.

“Ewan, forget it.  Think of something else.”

“No, I didn’t change any of your other rules.”

“This is invasive!”

“Well, yeah.  But according to you I’m an invasive, insensitive bastard.  Doesn’t this fit right in with that description?”

I put my hands on my hips.  “Don’t be difficult.  Just go.”

“My ride’s not here yet.”

“Then wait outside on the porch.”

“Come on, Olivia.  Show me how strong you are.  Or how scared.”

“I still don’t trust that you don’t have vampiric powers.  What if I kiss you and all of a sudden I’m under your spell and start eating spiders and stuff?”

Ewan laughed.  “And what field of science would that ability fall under?”

“I don’t know.”

A car whipped into the cul-de-sac and bounced up onto the driveway.  I didn’t recognize the car and I couldn’t see who was driving.  Ewan shook his head, still smiling, and turned to go.  I grabbed his arm before I could stop myself and pulled him toward me.  He leaned down to meet me halfway and our lips brushed quickly together, and then away.

“Tell whoever’s driving to be careful.  Kids run around here at night.”

Ewan looked at something over my head and smiled.  Then he looked back at me and nodded.  “I’ll tell her to be careful.”

Then he leaned forward and pecked me on the lips again before he bounced outside, pulling the door shut behind him.  I stood at the window and watched Ewan jump in the car.  The car backed out carefully and left the cul-de-sac much slower than it had arrived.

I focused on my body, trying to feel if I felt different.  I seemed to be okay.  I had no overwhelming urges to join the forces of darkness.  Yet I couldn’t really explain why I had decided to kiss him.  And why he had looked so amused when I had done it.  His amusement hadn’t been directed at me.  I turned around slowly to head back toward the kitchen and saw Ron standing at the end of the hallway with a plate in his hand.  Judging by the expression on his face he had been standing there for just long enough.  He turned away quickly and began to rinse his plate off in the sink.  I felt anger begin to bubble up within me.  Ewan had known Ron was there.  Jerk.

The rest of the night went along pleasantly enough, as long as I didn’t pay too close attention to Ron and his little hurt puppy-dog looks.  Geez.  It wasn’t like I had told him we should go steady and then turned around and kissed his arch nemesis.

At long last the Wares went home.  Ron and I had had an awkward goodbye involving such lines as “Well, I’ve very busy with work now,” and “I’ve just moved to a new area,” to try and cover up the fact that it wouldn’t work since I was “involved” with another man.  My parents thought the evening had gone swimmingly and wondered what I thought of Ron.

“He’s really nice,” I said.

“Nice,” my mom repeated.  “Why didn’t you like him?!  He was a perfect gentleman and acted very interested in you.”

“Mom, he acted interested in himself.  And I never said I didn’t like him.  I just said that I thought he was nice.”

“It’s that Ewan,” she said as she washed some dishes.  “He’s more than just a working partner.”

“No, Mom, he’s really not.  But, that’s not the point.  I just moved to Norfolk.  Ron lives in Arlington.  It’s a short distance relationship relatively speaking, but it’s too long for a new relationship.”

“What do you have against Ewan anyway?” my dad asked as he dried the dishes my mom handed him.  My job was to put them up.  “I thought he was very well mannered and a pleasant individual.”

“Oh, nothing,” my mom sighed.  “I liked him just fine.  I guess I just had a plan and she spoiled it.”

“ _I_ spoiled it?”

“Yes.  I had plans for a marriage and grandkids.  Those are things that Ron could offer and give you.  Ewan, on the other hand, is like you.  A job that is always on the go, more excited by the big flashy goings on in the world than the more meaningful smaller ones.  She might marry Ewan one day but they would never have children together.”

Well, that was a very true statement.  Except for the marriage part.

“Mom, look, Ewan and I are not romantically involved.  Nor will we be.  After I finish this case he’s going to go back to wherever he came from and I’ll never see him again.  It’s nothing.  I’ll find a nice lawyer down in Norfolk to marry.”

“But you’re already twenty-eight,” my mother said despairingly.  “I’m getting old.”

“Mom!  Serena is thirty and you don’t complain to her about it!  Besides, Irene has already given you two grandchildren, isn’t that enough?”

“Olivia, I just want you to be happy.”

“And why do you think that I don’t know what will make me happy?”

“I think because you have seen such horrors in the world that you don’t want to bring any children into it.  But, children help bring joy into the world.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Mom, that’s not it.  I’m not against having children.  I’m just not at a point in my life when it would be feasible to have any.”

“Oh, quit bothering her,” my father said.  “I think it’s perfectly fine if she wants to wait.”

He smiled and gave me a hug.  I briefly wondered if he was fine with it because he thought I would stay a virgin until I was married.  Was he that naïve?  Probably not, but it wouldn’t hurt either of us for both to pretend that he was.

I ended up staying pretty late at my parents’ house.  Going back to Stafford meant going back to my complicated life, and eventually moving to an apartment complex full of things that probably wanted to have me as dinner more than they wanted to sleep with me.  Though either seemed to be pretty popular.  I decided to sleep in nothing but a T-shirt because I had turned my a/c off to save on money.  I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore at the new place.  Fuzzball curled up beside me and fell asleep immediately.  He didn’t seem to mind the constantly moving shadows or the slight creaks here and there.  It took me a little bit longer to follow him into sleep.


	14. Shopping with Vampires

I felt Fuzzball shift beside me and opened my eyes against the bright sunlight to see what he was pulling on to cause the blankets to move so much.  I rubbed my eyes and focused on large brown eyes in a pretty face surrounded by Marilyn Monroe hair.

I sat up with a scream, clutching the sheets to me and scooting back toward the wall.  Aislinn wasn’t startled by my reaction and just smiled at me from where she sat on the edge of my bed.  She was wearing a bright yellow tank top with her perky breasts swinging free again.  Lucky bitch.  She never had to worry about her assets going down hill one day.  Well, she did have to worry about a killer stalking her, but then again, in this day and age, so did I.

“Morning, Olivia.  You’ve slept pretty late.  It’s ten o’clock.  The malls opened at like, nine.  So, go get a shower and wear some comfortable shoes and we’ll totally give you a Barbie Dream House type makeover.”

I gave a small smile.  “How?  Am I moving to Beverly Hills?”

“Okay.  So maybe not Barbie’s Dream House, but at least her pimped out condo.”

“Great.”

I felt movement on the bed again and turned to look at the foot of the bed.  Elijah sat on the end, propped against the wall with one leg drawn up to his chest.  Unless he was wearing what he wore on Friday, he must own a lot of leather pants and oversized white dress shirts.  The flip-flops were blue this time.  His salt-and-pepper hair looked a little shorter than I remembered, but I noticed for the first time that his rose eyes were surrounded by thick, black lashes.  I frowned at him.

“And you’re here…?”

“Because I wanted to see you.”

“How did y’all get in here?” I asked, stifling a yawn.

“Ewan gave us a key,” Aislinn said with a tilt to her head, trying to seem cute and harmless I think.

“Uh-huh, and does my landlord know about this?”

“We’ll get rid of it.  Don’t worry.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I got here about ten minutes ago.  But, I don’t know how long Elijah’s been here.  He was here before me.”

I turned a raised eyebrow to the young vampire.  “How long have you been here?”

“Not long enough for it to be creepy,” he replied in a voice that sounded like he was trying to hide what he was feeling.

“Define not long enough.”

“A couple hours.”

“Whoa!” I said, pointing a finger at him, “that, for future reference, is creepy.”

“So noted.”

I glared at him.  “And what do you think Ewan would do if I told him what you did?”

Elijah shrugged.  “He might punish me.”

“And you would like it,” Aislinn scoffed.  “Come on, Olivia.  Get dressed.  Elijah’s going to be tagging along, but I’m sure he’ll promise to be good.  Won’t you?”

“I’m always good,” Elijah said, laying a cheek on his knee.  I couldn’t imagine anything that would look more harmless.  Shit.

I dragged the sheets off the bed and wrapped them around my waist since I wasn’t wearing even underwear beneath my T-shirt.  I learned a valuable lesson this morning.  Once making acquaintanceship with vampires, never go to sleep unless you’re fully dressed and armed.  I had the door to my bathroom mostly shut when I realized Elijah was following me.  I gave him my best “How much crack did you smoke this morning?” look.

“Where are you going?”

Elijah leaned against the jamb and smiled pleasantly, like he knew he was going to get whatever he was after.  I wondered if he was really seeing the world through those rose-colored eyes of his.

“Aren’t you curious, Olivia?”

“About what?”

“If this is really my natural hair color?”

“Not if it means I have to shower with you.  Get.”

I shut the door in his face and heard Aislinn’s laughter through two rooms and the door.  And here I thought Elijah was somewhat normal.  Well, at least compared to his “brothers.”  Geez.  I hoped none of them ever decided they “wanted to see me.”

My shower was quick and hardly enjoyable.  I kept peeking around my sea turtles shower curtain to make sure that Elijah hadn’t snuck into the room.  Once I stood in a towel in front of my fogged up mirror, I realized that this was twice now that I had vampires waiting out in my bedroom for me to get ready.  And I better do it on my own.  Lord knows I didn’t want Aislinn dressing me.  And I was almost certain Elijah wouldn’t even try.  The little pervert.  I found myself smiling by accident.  I liked Elijah.  Damn it all.

I warily entered my bedroom wrapped in my towel.  I was pleasantly surprised to not only find the room empty, but the door shut as well.  I didn’t drop my towel immediately though.  I didn’t put it past Elijah to be hiding in the closet.  He wasn’t.  Maybe I was being too hard on him.  He technically hadn’t done anything too weird to me.  Except kissed me twice, had prophetic dreams about me, and watched me sleeping for over two hours.  I take it back.  All of it.  I didn’t like him and he was definitely not harmless.

I pulled on jeans and a maroon tank top.  Then I realized I couldn’t carry my gun without it being in plain sight.  I could always wear a shirt over it, but that look was so out.  I decided I could pretend it was cool enough that it warranted a lightweight cotton jacket.  It was grey and didn’t exactly compliment my outfit.  Not to mention it covered the fact that I looked right nice in my clingy tank top.

The door opened as I was clipping the holster to my pants.  Aislinn smiled at me like I was a little kid doing something incredibly cute.

“What do you need that for?  You’re going to be with two vampires.  We can totally kill anything before it could kill you.”

“And what could kill you before you killed me?”

Aislinn put her hand on her hip and made a huffing noise.  “Olivia, honestly.  Besides, I thought Ewan proved to you that guns are virtually useless against us.”

“It’s the virtually part that gives me hope.”

“Look, we are going shopping for furniture in a big public mall.  You cannot wear a gun out in the open.  You’d have to wear that ugly jacket on your bed and then it would cover up your great figure.  Nice top by the way.  But, I would wear it without the strapless bra.  That’s why they build bras into these things anyway.”

She gave a little shake of her chest and her breasts bounced merrily beneath the fabric.  I pursed my lips, but before I could open them to argue with her she had left the room telling me to ditch the gun and the bra.

“Who’s not wearing a bra?” I heard Elijah call from the living room.

I groaned and removed the gun.  I locked it in a drawer in the nightstand next to my bed and ditched the bra.  Man, vampires were pushy.  I had enough cleavage that I wasn’t flat, but not enough that walking around without a bra would be terribly uncomfortable.  However, the reason I wore the bras was because it gave my breasts a better, more even shape.  Oh, well.  I wasn’t out to pick up guys or impress anyone anyway.  Might as well be comfortable.

I slid into a pair of sandals and grabbed my wallet.  Out in the living room, Aislinn was sitting on my couch, checking her impeccable make-up in a compact.  Elijah was on the floor with a rolled up magazine poking at Fuzzball who was hiding under the coffee table.  He growled and hissed as the vampire poked him again.

“Elijah!  Get away from my cat.”

Elijah turned to look at me and Fuzzball took the opportunity to swipe at him.  Elijah grinned when he saw me.  “You know, I was going to say something about how I like playing with your pussy, but it might be more rewarding just to say that I can see your nipples.”

I crossed my arms over my chest automatically as I looked down.  That was another damn reason I didn’t like not wearing a bra.  Everyone always knew if you were cold.  Aislinn hit him on the back of the head as she stood and gestured for me to follow her to the door.  I followed reluctantly, with my arms still crossed over my chest, and glared at Elijah as I passed him.  He kissed the air in my direction and then stood to follow us.

I watched the vampires prance out into the hallway, and for some reason, they both pranced.  I turned to lock the door when I heard, “Olivia!  Hello again!”

“Hi, Mrs…Trudy.”

I turned to face my neighbor and saw that Danny was with her again.  He glanced at Aislinn, but then his attention returned to me.  That made me feel good.  Aislinn was gorgeous, but he preferred me.  Too bad he was fourteen.  I felt movement to my left and saw Elijah peeking around me at Danny.  Danny did a double take as he caught sight of the hair and eyes.  Trudy was talking so I couldn’t keep looking back at Elijah to see if he was doing anything inappropriate.

“Well, Olivia, you certainly have a whole host of new friends these days.  Or should I say just a whole host.  You never had many people over before.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve just been so busy with work.  This is Aislinn and Elijah.  They’re helping me move.”

Trudy’s hand flew to her slightly chubby cheeks.  “Oh, no.  You’re moving?  Did you hear that, Danny?  Olivia is moving!”

I turned to look at Danny and he was struggling to break eye contact with Elijah.  I kicked the troublesome vampire in the shin as subtly as I could and Danny looked up at me.  He blinked as if finally being able to focus on me.  Then he frowned.

“Why are you moving?”

I shrugged.  “My job is transferring me.  They need my help in Norfolk.”

“That’s still in Virginia though, isn’t it?” Trudy asked.  “That’s not too far away.”

“No,” Elijah answered for me in a soft, eerie voice.  “Not too far at all.”  He kept his eyes on Danny.  “Danny could visit her easily enough.  He could even stay with me.”

Trudy’s maternal instincts kicked in suddenly as she recognized Elijah for what he was: danger.  She wrapped her arm around her son’s shoulders and smiled tightly.

“Oh, I don’t think so.  He would be nothing but a nuisance to Olivia while she was trying to work.  Well, we’ve got to run along now.  But, oh, Danny, I forgot my keys.  Go get them.”

Danny nodded and disappeared inside his apartment.  I said goodbye to Trudy and hurried the vampires down the hall so that Trudy wouldn’t have to explain herself when Danny came back out announcing he couldn’t find the keys in the apartment.  We took the stairs and were surrounded by a rather loud metal echoing.  I wanted to push Elijah down the five flights to see if he could survive that.  I did the next best thing.  I shoved him hard against a wall when we reached the bottom.  He turned on me with stunned eyes.

“What the fuck was that?” I demanded.

“What the fuck was what?” Elijah yelled back, equally upset.

“Let’s not do this here,” Aislinn cautioned us both and hurried toward her car, very aware that neither of us was going to wait to be clear of civilians before having it out.

“What were you doing to Danny?”

“Nothing!  I can’t help it if the kid is drawn to me.”

“I think you can, Elijah.  I think he wouldn’t be drawn to you if you didn’t do something to him in the first place.”

“I thought Ewan told you that vampires don’t have magic powers.  If humans are attracted to us it’s due to their own curiosity.”

Aislinn pulled the seat forward on her convertible and forcibly helped Elijah into the backseat.  I opened the passenger side door and got in, slamming the door shut behind me.  I turned in my seat to continue the fight.

“Elijah, don’t bullshit me.  You did something to Danny.”

“I didn’t do anything.  I look weird.  He probably just has poor manners.”

“Don’t lie to me!”

“What do you want me to say?  That I was drawing him in with my eyes?  That my voice has magical powers?  They don’t!”

“Knock it off, you two,” Aislinn snapped.  “This is a shopping trip!  Shopping trips are always happy!”

I turned to say something unpleasant to her, but then I realized that she was mostly serious.  Shopping was a source of pure joy for her.  I tried to hold back my laugh, but it kind of slipped out.  Then Elijah laughed with me.  Aislinn looked distressed.

“Don’t laugh!  Shopping is great!”

Elijah and I laughed harder and Aislinn scowled as she gripped the wheel and faced forward.  She refused to talk to us for a while, but as we drew near the mall, her mood got better and better.  And her mood had quite a while to improve; she drove us all the way back to Norfolk.  Finally we entered the temple of her god and her glee spread like an infection.  Soon, Elijah and I were just as overeager to be shopping.  Well, I was getting free furniture after all.  I had a reason to be giddy.

Three hours later I sat by myself in the food court.  I had three rooms worth of furniture on order to be shipped to my new apartment.  Aislinn had informed me that nothing I currently owned was worth keeping, so we had shopped for bedroom, living room, and dining room.  I was going to end up with a lot of light birch colored wood when I personally preferred dark wood.  But, according to Aislinn, I didn’t know anything so I should leave everything to her.  I had mostly.  I was forced to object to the black fur curtains for my bedroom.  Though she was right, they would have kept out a lot of light.

Now I was eating my chicken sandwich all alone.  Aislinn was off buying the knick-knacky things that you always see on home improvement shows, but you never think to buy for yourself.  Elijah had got sucked into a video game versus a ten year old in a toy store.  I was the only who was hungry.  For solid food anyway.  I stood up to throw away my trash and figured I should do a little shopping on my own.  I hadn’t been to a mall in months and could stand to use new underwear.  And that errand I definitely wanted to do on my own.  Just the thought of Elijah being in Victoria’s Secret made me cringe.  Forget about him being _with_ me in that particular store.

I saw the pink and gold store front down the crowded hall and made a beeline for it around the gobs of people clogging up the corridor like adipose in an artery.  I gave a quick shake of my head.  I hated it when I used medical conditions for analogies to life.  The shake caused me to close my eyes for a moment, but that was enough.  I looked up and ran full on into a man paying attention to his cell phone and not much else.  The impact wasn’t too hard, but he was solid and I would have gone flying to the floor if he hadn’t grabbed me with both hands.

The man had grabbed me automatically to keep me from falling, but he was holding me against his body.  And my arms weren’t in the way so I was able to feel a nice solid body under his black suit.  The lime green shirt stood out brightly and looked amazing against his skin, which itself was amazing.  It was a soft brown, like ground cinnamon.  His face was striking and very handsome.  He had large dark eyes, a straight nose, and very nice full lips.  His hair was cut very close to his head, so it was impossible to see the texture, but I was pretty sure it would be thick and a little rough.  He looked like someone whose ancestors had come from the heart of Africa and then over the generations had been diluted not just by a new environment, but probably by mingling with other races.  I was pretty sure that the man would be offended by being referred to as “diluted,” so I figured I was safe in assuming I shouldn’t bring it up with him during our obligatory apology.

I managed to focus back on the situation and realized he was still holding me.  We had passed that initial steadying phase and moved on to a three second holding that could be classified as odd.  Now we had moved to five seconds.  Why was he still holding a perfect stranger in a crowded mall?  Not that I particularly minded.  I licked my lips and he gave a visible start as he collected himself and then abruptly let me go.  I didn’t settle back on my heels, so I must have been flat-footed the whole time.  I’d been close to eye-level with him, which meant he was probably under six feet, but not by much.  Maybe five-ten or five-eleven.  He looked a little embarrassed about the prolonged holding, so I wanted to apologize first.

“I’m really sorry.  I wasn’t watching where I was going,” I said with a smile that was maybe more friendly than the situation warranted.

He returned the slightly more than friendly smile and said, “No, not at all.  I had my face buried in my stupid cell phone.  I run into people all the time because of that stupid thing.  Although, it usually doesn’t yield such pleasant results.”  He had such a great smile.

Aha.  I know when I’m being flirted with.  So, return flirting?  He was an attractive man, but was this a wise time to be engaging in such frivolous behavior?  Well, it was called frivolous for a reason.  I put a hand on my hip and sort of smiled-pouted at him.

“Are you saying that you just got lucky this time?”

“I don’t know yet.”

I tried so hard not to let my teasing smile slip into a goofy grin.  I’m not sure I succeeded because he laughed and offered his hand.  He had to keep his arm bent quite a bit since we were still standing so close to each other.

“My name is Shon.”

“Olivia,” I said, sliding my hand into his.

His palm was warm and dry.  And much softer than I anticipated.  We gave a nice slow shake and then withdrew our hands slowly.  We smiled at each other and gave a small laugh because we were both well aware how completely obvious we were being.  I had never been flat out attracted to someone at first meeting before.  It’s not like it was love at first sight, but I knew that this was something I definitely wanted to pursue.

I shifted my weight and felt something bump my foot.  I looked down and saw his cell phone on the floor.  It looked like the newest, most expensive version out at the moment.  I bent to pick it up and saw his legs move as he too shifted his weight.  However, he shifted so that he could see me bend over better.  I picked up the phone and began to play around with some of the controls.  Shon had a curious expression on his face, but he just crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t say anything.  When I was done, I handed it back to him.  He took it from me and looked at the screen to see what I had done.  He looked back up at me.

“What did you do?”

“You didn’t have my number in there, so I put in there for you.”

He broke into that wonderful smile of his and said, “How careless of me to not have already had it.  Thank you very much.”

I shrugged.  “No problem.”  Geez.  That was awfully bold of me.  I don’t think I’d ever done anything like that before.

“Tell you what,” he said, “to make it up to you, I’ll take you out to dinner this weekend.”

“Sounds great.  Just give me a call.”

“Oh, I most definitely will.”

I opened my mouth to say something back, I wasn’t sure what, but I wasn’t given the chance.  Not far from us I heard a youngish voice say, “We didn’t say you could leave, fag.”

The word and hateful tone drew my attention.  You heard kids use words like that all time, but sometimes the amount of feeling behind the word set off warning bells.  Four kids were backing someone into a mall directory.  Shon turned to see what had drawn my attention.  He shook his head and sighed.

“Stupid punks,” he muttered and turned back to face me.

I would have turned back to him as well, but as one of the boys gave a shove to their victim, I could see through the barrier of their bodies and cursed under my breath.

“What’s wrong?” Shon asked, looking back at the group.

I didn’t answer him but ran toward the scuffle that was starting to draw attention.  Just as I arrived at the edge of the circle I managed to see the head punk holding Elijah against the directory by his shirt.  His blue flip-flops were almost off the floor.

“Don’t lie, fag.  You ain’t got no girl.  You’ve only got a throat coated in gonorrhea.”

I raised my eyebrows.  Most kids his age weren’t aware of the fact that oral sex didn’t protect you from STD’s.  Or maybe it was common knowledge now and that meant I was old.  I frowned and pushed one of the boys out of the way.  I grabbed onto the punk’s arm and twisted it around his back.  I didn’t try to keep him pinned because what I had been taught at the FBI was meant to cause pain and prevent a suspect from being able to move.  So, I just twisted him around and shoved him into his friends.  He turned looking very angry, but that anger nearly disappeared into shock when he saw me.  I was pretty sure I had a rather unpleasant expression on my face.  Elijah molded himself to one side of my body and slid his arm around my waist.  His hand slid down my hip and his fingers splayed across the top of my leg.  I’m sure it looked as possessive as it felt.

“You were saying?” Elijah asked, giving the group of boys a look that screamed arrogance.

“No way,” the head punk said.  He swallowed.  “She your teacher or something?”

I frowned, but Elijah answered.  “How old do you think I am?” he asked with disdain.  “I may be short, but that’s a not a good way to determine age.  I mean, if my dick was as small as yours I might believe that I’m young too.  Although, small dick size is a condition that stays with you for life.”

The punk took a step forward and I matched him, mostly to get away from Elijah’s touch.  His hand wasn’t being still.  The boy hesitated when he saw me move.  I wasn’t taller than him, but I was clearly older, and therefore an authority figure as is typically ingrained in people from a young age.  Not to mention the fact that I had effortlessly pulled him off Elijah.  He was tall, but scrawny.

“Go find someone else to bother,” I said with hard FBI eyes.

He made a rude gesture with his hands and then he and his friends hurried off.  Most of the people around us wandered away, relieved that nothing had happened, but also a little disappointed that nothing had happened.  Elijah smiled as he advanced on me.  He slipped his arms around my waist again and pulled us close by cupping my ass with his hands.

“Thanks,” he said.  His head was bent nearly all the way back so that he could see my eyes.

I put my hands over his and pulled him off me.  I slapped his hands to his sides and held his wrists there so I could talk without him trying anything again.

“Elijah, we are going to need to make some rules for our relationship.”

“I love rules,” he whispered.

Damn it all if that breathy voice didn’t do something to me.  I was still frowning, but Elijah’s smile had gotten wider.

“I can see your nipples again.”

The only thing that kept me from kneeing him in the groin and slamming his head into the ground was the fact that we were in a very public place.  I grabbed a couple fingers in each hand and bent them back as far and hard as I could.

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow!”

I released him and turned away in a huff.  Shon was a few feet away.  He gave me raised eyebrows.  I tried to keep from scowling so that he wouldn’t think it was directed at him, but these damn vampires were ruining my potential love life.

“Are you okay?” Shon asked politely.

I waved my hand in the air.  “Oh, we’re fine.  It was nothing.”

“Who’s this?” Elijah asked peeking out from behind me.

“This is Shon…I’m sorry I didn’t get your last name…” I trailed off, hoping he would still be willing to fill in the blank.

“Thomas,” Shon said.  “Shon Thomas.”

He extended a hand toward Elijah.  The vampire looked at it suspiciously, but took it.  I watched Shon carefully to see if he was affected in some way by Elijah.  He didn’t have much of a reaction except a little perplexity at perhaps his appearance.

“Shon, this is Elijah.”  I stopped as I realized I didn’t know his last name either.

“Cohen,” Elijah said.  “Elijah Cohen.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Shon said.

Elijah just looked at him, clearly not reciprocating the feeling.

“Olivia!”

I turned away from the staring match and saw Aislinn running toward me with several bags in her hands.  I felt my heart sink.  If this was just the stuff she had carried with her, how much was being shipped to my apartment?

“Olivia!  I went to the food court but you were—oh!  Who is this delectable morsel?”

Aislinn stopped up short in front of Shon and smiled as she raked her eyes over his body.  I was almost embarrassed for her.  And I thought _I_ had been obvious with my flirting.  Shon just smiled and rubbed the back of his head.  He said a soft hello and looked to me for help.  I was still a little unhappy by the double meaning she had thrown his way without him even knowing it.

Elijah said, “Come now, Aislinn, you know who I am.”

He smiled at the blonde and she put a hand under his chin and pulled him forward.  Their faces met and when Aislinn released him his lips were covered in her crimson lipstick.

“Yes, darling, I know who you are.  But I was referring to this strapping young lad.”

“Strapping young lad?” I repeated looking at her.

She widened her eyes.  “Has that saying gone out of fashion?”

I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes.  “Shon, this is Aislinn and Elijah.  Guys, this is Shon Thomas.  Don’t ask me to explain anything about anyone.  I’ve just met all of you.”

Shon’s face was near shock.  “You just met us all today?”

“No,” I said with a laugh.  “I met them on Friday.  I just moved here and they live in my apartment complex.”

“Ah,” he said as if that explained it, though I was pretty sure he didn’t think that it did.

Elijah suddenly reached out and grabbed Aislinn’s arm.  “Was that Brooks?”

“Where?” she asked spinning on her heels.

“There!” they shouted together and started to run.  Aislinn turned back quickly and shoved the bags in my arms.  “Hold these.  We’ll be right back.”  Aislinn disappeared into the crowd that had already swept Elijah away.

I stared into the crowd because I didn’t want to turn and see Shon’s face.  But I couldn’t stand there not looking at him forever.  I turned slowly back toward him and he had his hands in his pockets.  His head was ducked down at little bit so he could look me in the eyes and smile.

“I hope they’re the one eccentric couple of the building.”

I let out a harsh bark of laughter before I could stop myself.  I tried to recover by fake coughing a little and then laughing gentler.  “Uh, well, I’m afraid they might be among the more normal ones of the bunch.”  I looked away.  “You know, I’d understand if my number accidentally found its way out of your phone again.”

“I hope not.  Then I wouldn’t be able to call you to confirm our date for this weekend.”

I looked back at him.  He was smiling.  So I smiled too.  Then a man in a denim jacket ran through the crowd with Aislinn on his heels.  Elijah followed not far behind.  He waved at me to come and curved his index and middle fingers over and stabbed the air with them.  I think he was miming fangs.  Was that a vampire?  And if it was, why did they need me?  I groaned.  I better go before something happened.  I shoved the bags at Shon.

“You don’t have to watch these if you don’t want.  Call me!”

I ran after the vampires and saw them running out the nearest exit.  I dodged an old couple and really wished I had worn a bra after all.  I reached the doors and pushed out in the bright sun.  I shielded my eyes to see which way they had gone.  I didn’t see anybody.  I ran out into the parking lot to try and see around the funny angles of the building.  I turned in a circle.  I had lost them.  Then a man emerged from the same doors we had come out of.  I recognized him.  He started as he recognized me.  He looked nervous to see me, I wasn’t sure why.  I jogged over to talk to Leonard King, angry leader of the wereanimals.

“Mr. King,” I said.

“Dr. Milligan.”

He was carrying a shoebox, but there was no store bag.  I hoped he had paid for the shoes.

“I’m sorry, but have you seen two vampires running by here recently?”

“Dr. Milligan, I can’t just tell what’s a vampire and what’s not any easier than you can.”

I titled my head in confusion.  “But I thought you guys could smell that I wasn’t one.”

“I mean if vampires are running by us we can’t tell.”

“Well, you would have recognized at least one easily enough.  Short, grey hair, pink eyes?”

“Oh, yes.  Elijah.  Ewan’s catamite.”

That got an eyebrow raised.  The word was a little old-fashioned and not a very accurate description of their relationship.  But, Leonard King didn’t like either of them, so maybe he was just being mean.

“Ye-ah,” I said, “him.”

“Nope.  Haven’t seen him lately.”

“Okay.  I—”

Then Leonard King just walked away from me.  He didn’t say anything at all; just walked off.  Okay.  Clearly he thought I was one of them.  Or close enough.  I sighed and turned around in time to see the three people I was looking for running toward me.  I was certain the leader wouldn’t expect me to intervene, so I just sort walked out and grabbed as he went by.  I let out a yelp as my weight didn’t do much to slow him down.  All I managed to do was feel like my arms might get ripped from their sockets.  But apparently that was enough for Aislinn and Elijah to catch up to him.  They each grabbed an arm and our victim fell to the ground.  I wound up on top of the dark-haired man and Aislinn and Elijah got to kiss the asphalt.

“Let fucking go!  It’s fucking here!” the man under us shouted.  He struggled to get away, but the three of us held him pinned.

“Brooks!  Stop it,” Elijah grunted.

“What’s here?” Aislinn asked as she bore down on the man’s shoulder so he couldn’t get up.

“The killer!”

We all froze.  Elijah looked at me, his grey pupils were dilating, the way Fuzzball’s did when something seriously spooked him.  I put a hand on his arm to keep him from bolting.  Though I should have been worried about the vampire taking my arm with him.

“Where?” Aislinn asked.  “Where is he?  Who is it?  Did you see?”

The man on the ground struggled to catch his breath and then swallowed with difficulty.  “You wouldn’t fucking believe me.  I mean, this dildo just came out of Goddamn no where and tried to go inside my fucking head.  But, why the shit would they do that?  Why would those muff divers kill us?  It can’t be right.”

“What are you babbling about?  They who?”

I leaned forward.  “Was it a fairy?” I asked.

The statement must have surprised him because he stopped fighting and tried to look at me over his shoulder.  He licked his chapped lips and narrowed his eyes.

“Who are you?”

“Olivia Mae,” Elijah answered.

The man’s eyes went wide.  “You’re shitting me.”

There’s really only one way to respond to that statement.  “I shit you not,” I said.

“How did you know it was a fairy?”

“The killer is using fairies to kill.  But the fairies themselves aren’t the true killers.  Did you see someone with the fairy?  Or was there anyone around you when it attacked you?”

“Yeah there were people around me.  I was in a fucking crowded mall.  He came after us in broad fucking daylight.  I mean, what kind of motherfucking cocksucker would risk the fucking mundanes knowing about us just because his pillow-biting ass can’t get rid of his hard-on for killing us?”

Hmm.  Either being upset brought out his cursing or this was just the way he talked.

“Wait, what’s all this about fairies?” Aislinn asked.

Oops.  Was I not supposed to tell?  Did they count as “civilians?”

“Hey, can you shitheads get the fuck off me?”

We all rolled off the vampire, which I assumed he had to be.  He sat up and ran a hand through his hair.  He wore a white T-shirt under his denim jacket tucked into blue jeans.  He had on those yellow hiking boots that most people use just for everyday wear.  His hair was above his neck, but long on top.  He had a habit of pushing it back with his hands because it had a habit of falling into his eyes.  His eyes were blue and he was cute in that construction worker on a break kind of way.  Not that he looked like he did construction for a living.

We all sat on the pavement just kind of looking at each other for a moment and then a car blared its horn.  We all started and then got up and shuffled for the sidewalk.  The dark-haired vampire was a lot taller than I thought he was.  He was nearly half a foot over my head.

“Olivia,” Elijah said, “this is Brooks.  He doesn’t live in the complex, but I’m guessing that’s why he’s here.”

“It’s why I _was_ here.  I mean, fuck.  The killer is here.  Fucking right here.  I would have been a shit lot safer in San Diego.”

“Maybe,” Aislinn shrugged.  “But you’re here now.  You should check in with Emanuel.”

I crossed my arms and rocked on my heels.  I knew for a fact that both Aislinn and Elijah knew that Ewan was Emanuel.  So, why did they refer to him as such around other vampires?  It may have even been that Aislinn wasn’t aware that Elijah now knew the secret.  Though she hadn’t seemed surprised when I mentioned him that morning in front of Elijah.

“Fuck,” Brooks said with feeling.  “Emanuel’s pissed at me as it is.  Can’t I just move in with someone else?”

“He’ll be madder if he finds you living there without checking in with him,” Elijah pointed out.

“Fuck,” he repeated.

“Olivia, where are the bags with my stuff?”

“Your stuff?” I asked.

“Yeah.  I bought some things for you, but most of that stuff was mine.”

“Oh!”

I took off running inside the mall.  I wondered what Shon must think of me and if random people had stolen all of Aislinn’s stuff already.  I pulled up short as I saw Shon still standing by the mall directory with all of the bags.  He was concentrating on his cell phone.  I smiled.  I couldn’t believe he had waited.  I walked up to him and stood in front of him until he noticed me.  He smiled when he saw me.

“Hey.  So, uh, did you do what you needed to do?”

“More or less.  I can’t believe you waited.  Thank you so much.”

“It wasn’t a problem.  But, I actually have to hurry off now.”

“Oh, of course, I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be.  So, I’ll give you call okay?  See you this weekend?”

“Yeah, sounds great.”

He waved and jogged off into the stream of people.  I started gathering the bags and the vampires found me.

“I can’t believe nothing was stolen,” Aislinn marveled.

“Oh, Shon stayed with the stuff.”

“Really?  Ooo.  He must really like you.”

She gave me a wink and helped me pick up the bags.  I turned to Brooks.

“Brooks, where was the attack?”

“In the food court.  By the sushi stand.”

“Why were you in the food court?”

“I didn’t say I was eating.”

I handed my bags to Elijah, and then couldn’t help but wipe some of the lipstick off his lips.  Should I be worried by the fact that it bothered me that he had another woman’s lipstick smeared across his lips?  “You guys head on.  I’m going to call Sullivan and tell him to come down here.  Could you stay, Brooks?  Answer some questions?”

“No way.  I’m going back to the complex.  Sullivan can ask me questions there.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Will you come back to the complex tonight?” Elijah asked.

“I don’t know.  I mean, I start work tomorrow at the Norfolk field office, but I don’t have any clothes down here or anything.  And Fuzzball is still up there.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Aislinn.  “I’ll get the essentials moved down here tonight so that you can work on the case and not have to worry about driving back up there tonight.  Besides, you don’t have a car down here anyway.”

“Good point.  So, I guess, yes, Elijah, I’ll be back at the complex tonight.”

“Great.  If you don’t have a bed, you can stay with Michael and me.”

Aislinn snorted.

“Michael sleeps on the couch,” Elijah said giving Aislinn a long, hard look, “so, you could sleep in his bed.”

“Thanks.  If it comes down to it, I might take you up on your offer.”  I wasn’t sure I really meant that.  I pulled out my cell phone and searched through the memory for the number that Sullivan had called me from the other night.  Aislinn and Brooks started to leave, but Elijah hung back.  I looked up at him.

“So, you like that Shon Thomas guy?”

“Yes,” I said carefully.

“You’d date him?”

“Yes.”  Again, careful.

“You don’t mind that he’s black?”

I was pretty sure that Elijah had a point, but I wasn’t sure what it was yet.  “No, why?”

He smiled.  “Well, if you don’t mind interracial relationships, maybe you’ll be open to interspecies relationships.”

He wetted his lower lip with his tongue and then pulled it back in his mouth slowly over his upper lip.  He turned and walked away in such a manner that it drew my attention to his backside even though it was mostly hidden by his oversized shirt.  I shook myself.  This didn’t make sense.  Elijah was not my type.  I liked men like Shon Thomas and Michael Farlini.  Men who were definitely men.  Elijah was shorter than me, prettier than me, and weighed less than me.  How on earth could I be attracted to him?  I decided not to think about it and hit the connect button on my phone.  It rang twice before someone picked up.

“Hello?  Olivia, what’s happened?”

I was surprised for a moment that he knew it was me.  I was still getting used to cell phones letting everyone know who was calling before answering.

“There was an attack in the mall.”

“Oh, God.  Is the body in plain sight?  Have the police arrived yet?”

“No, no.  There’s no body.  There was an attack, but not a kill.  Aislinn and Elijah are taking the victim back to the complex.  I didn’t know if you wanted to examine the scene or not.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.  You don’t happen to know who was attacked, do you?”

“Uh, Brooks I think.”

“Brooks?  Why is—okay.  Which mall are you in?”

“Um, I think it has, like, Military in the name or something.”

There was a pause.  “Military Circle Mall?”

“Yeah, that sounds right.”

“Why are you back in Norfolk already?”

“This is where Aislinn wanted to shop.”

“Okay.  I’m less than ten minutes away.”

He hung up and I took that to mean that he was headed this way.  The phone rang and I answered on the first ring.

“Meet me in the food court by the sushi bar,” I said.

Sullivan laughed.  “Okay.  See you soon.”


	15. Clairvoyant

Despite my chicken sandwich, I was starting to get a craving for some tuna sashimi.  Fortunately Sullivan was true to his word and arrived within ten minutes of our conversation.  He was wearing black dress slacks and a black button down shirt.  It overly emphasized his pale skin and dark eyes.  With his handsome face and confident stride he looked like somebody’s vision of Death personified.  Maybe mine.

He walked right up to me and asked if I was there when it happened.  No greeting, no preamble.  People were just being rude today.  I told him as much as I knew from Brooks, which was essentially nothing.  Just that it had happened in the food court by the sushi stand.  Sullivan nodded and began to circle the stand.  He didn’t look like he was sniffing anything, but I wondered if he was checking for the same “scent” that he had found at other crime scenes.  I was starting to get hungry again.  After he had made a few circuits he stopped in front of me.

“Get anything?” I asked.

“Nope.  I can’t even tell if it was the same perpetrator.  Too many different people in and out.  Though there was a wereanimal here at some point.”

“Do you think a wereanimal is the killer?”

Sullivan made a “that’s hard to believe” face as he gave a half-shake of his head.  “I don’t know.  It’s possible.  But, I can’t imagine any of them wanting to take the chance.  I mean, they’re all scared shitless of Ewan.”

“But, he can’t possibly know them all.  The disease is hereditary, right?  Some guy somewhere out there may not know how dangerous it could be to attack you guys.”  I thought about not saying what I was about to say, but said it anyway.  “But then again, it doesn’t seem all that dangerous.  Fifty years of successful hunting and killing.  And you guys haven’t got a solid lead.  Except this fairy thing now, but that’s not really leading back to anything either.”

Sullivan gave me a rather nasty look, but quickly let it pass.  He ran his fingers through his white-blonde hair and shrugged.

“You’re right.  You’re exactly right.  But I don’t think making an example of the wereanimals will do us any good.”

“I didn’t suggest that.”  I hesitated again, but still said what I thought maybe I should keep to myself.  “You know, two-thirds of murders are committed by people who knew the victim.  Usually intimately.”

Sullivan looked up at me.  “You think maybe a vampire’s doing this?”

I shrugged.  “It’s just a statistic.”

“But do serial killers usually kill people they know?”

“The first one is usually someone very close to them.  And then they begin finding similar victims so that they can kill the same person over and over again.”

“I just don’t think one of us could be doing this.”

“You didn’t seem to think that Friday night,” I said softly.

The dull roar of the crowd in the food court seemed to push between us; separating us by an intangible wall of noise.  I stared at his collar bone, not able to look him in the face.  I’m not sure where he was looking.  I saw him step toward me.  He was either going to continue the conversation or let it go.  Either way I would let him.

“Come on,” he said, taking my arm.  “We might as well go back and talk to Brooks.  He might have seen something that maybe doesn’t mean anything to him, but will to us.”

I was about to protest his holding my arm, but he wrapped it around his own like he was escorting me somewhere.  It was a bit of an old-fashioned gesture and it made me smile.

“I don’t know if I want to talk to Brooks again.  My ears are still burning.”

Sullivan laughed.  “I take it Brooks’ oration is as colorful as ever.”

“You could say that.  So, how was it that you were so close by?”

Sullivan looked at me.  “You don’t recognize where you are?”

I glanced around.  “No, should I?”

“This is the mall where you met Ewan.  Our complex is less than five miles from here.  And the FBI field office is not even two.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”  He smiled at me.  “You’re terrible with spatial relations aren’t you?”

I scowled.  “Well, excuse me if I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings the last few days.”

“Now, now,” he cajoled me while patting the hand that was on his arm.  “No one’s saying that you haven’t been under a lot of stress lately.  It’s very understandable that you can’t remember a place you were in just three days ago.”

I pulled my arm from his grasp and made a face at him.  He just smiled at me the way a man smiles at woman that he knows he’s already won over.  Frankly, I was a little tired of getting that smile directed at me.

“So, you’re doing a lot better than the last time I saw you.”  I could hear the ice in my voice, but didn’t much care.

“Yeah.  I, uh, was not myself that night.”

He held the door open for me as we left the mall.  I recognized where we were now.  It was the exit by the Dillard’s.  We were on the sidewalk where Ewan confessed to being a vampire and I kneed him in the groin.  And just over there was where I shot him.  And he didn’t die.  Didn’t bleed.  Just dragged me kicking and screaming into his world.

Sullivan was walking out into the rows of cars and I found myself rooted to the ground.  Everything that had happened in the last few days came rushing back at once.  I could actually feel my body growing cold and my mind slowing down.  This was ridiculous.  It was way too late for shock to set in.  I closed my eyes and was hit with flashes of the shooting, the gunshot wound, the first body, the second two victims, the half-eaten face, the fairy-wing.  It was all jumbled around and I couldn’t make sense of it anymore.  I had managed to keep it all sorted for three days, but now it was slipping away from me.  There was nothing to focus on.  Then an image slid into my mind.  I was standing at the front door to my parents’ house.  Ewan’s lips were brushing over mine.  It was so chaste and calming…but not quite right.  That kiss hadn’t lasted that long.  And then I realized that there were real lips on mine.  Not moving, just pressed firmly against me.  Hands gripped my upper arms and my eyes fluttered opened.

Sullivan drew back from me.  He kept a hold of my arms and I couldn’t look away from the pools of calm darkness that were his eyes.  I took a breath and blinked, and then looked away.  Sullivan eased his grip on my arms and I pushed away from him.  He turned and started for the parking lot again.  I rubbed my eyes with my fingers until I saw stars.  It felt like I should have a headache, but I didn’t.  I finally stopped rubbing my eyes and slowly my vision returned to me.  Sullivan had pulled up to the curb in his BMW.  I opened the door and slid in.  I was glad the ride was going to be short.

“You know, you should really have a grip on this by now,” Sullivan said.

Though obviously not short enough.  I gave an angry sigh.

“What?  Like you?  Last time I saw you, you were on the verge of totally losing it.  As I recall, the only way to shut you up was for Ewan to shove his tongue down your throat.  And then you cried like a soap opera actress over your beloved Karen or Colleen or whatever.  And now you’re just fine and well adjusted, huh?  Well, maybe you’ve had a lot of practice dealing with shit, but I’m still human.”

The rest of the ride was in complete hostile silence.  I glared out the window at the passing scenery and didn’t see any of it.  After he parked in the complex’s garage, Sullivan got out of the car without a word.  I hesitated for a moment before I got out myself.  As soon as my door was shut, the car beeped as Sullivan locked it from thirty feet ahead of me.  I followed him into the building.  He went straight to the elevator and I didn’t want to get on with him.  Ten floors was a long ride and on top of that we had to walk down the hall together.  I didn’t even know if I could get into my apartment yet, I didn’t have a key.  Sullivan stepped onto the elevator and pushed a button.  I stayed outside and looked in at him.  The doors started to slide shut and neither of us moved to stop them to let me on.

“Her name was Carmen,” he said.  And the doors shut.

I felt my shoulders slump.  Sullivan didn’t deserve that.  And for some reason I felt worse because I _had_ remembered the woman’s name.  I turned on my heel and started down the hall that had Ewan’s office.  If he was in, maybe I could get a key from him.  The door was locked and there didn’t appear to be any light coming from underneath the door.  Great.  Just great.  I was stuck out in the lobby until Ewan got back from wherever the hell he was.  Well, he could be in his own apartment.  One floor down and one apartment over from mine.  But, I didn’t really want to go up there.  I was afraid I might run into Shannon.  And Shannon was too much even on a good day.

I leaned against the wall and sighed.  I looked back toward the lobby and saw the corridor on the other side.  Aislinn and Elijah should have brought Brooks back here, so maybe Elijah was home.  I could hang with him for a while.  At the very least it would be a place to sit.  I crossed the lobby and found myself staring at Elijah’s door.  What if all his brothers were in there?  Displaying their version of brotherly love.  I raised my hand and knocked.

“Who is it?” came a muffled voice.

“It’s Olivia.  Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

I tried to open the door, but it was locked.  I informed the voice of that fact.  There was some shuffling and then a thump.  I waited and listened carefully, but couldn’t hear any other movement.  I was about to knock again when the doorknob rattled as someone messed with the lock.  Then the knob turned once, twice, and then the door opened a fraction.  I pushed it open and saw Michael lying on the floor with his foot on the knob.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.”

He began to push himself back across the floor toward the couch.  I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.  I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched the neurotic vampire push himself all the way to the couch and then slowly pulled himself back on.  He let out a sigh of relief once he was back in place.  Like Elijah, he was wearing an outfit identical to the one I had seen on Friday: black leather pants and a pale yellow dress shirt.  I looked around the apartment.  It was still messy.

“Is Elijah here?”

“I thought he was with you.”

“He came back ahead of me.”

Michael shrugged.  “He’s not here.”

“Do you mind if I stay here awhile?  I can’t get into my apartment until Ewan gets back.”

“Is Ewan gone?”

I wasn’t sure.  But I wasn’t going to admit it.  “Yes.”

Michael raised his head.  “How do you know Ewan?”

Whoops.  I was supposed to say Emanuel.  “Uh, I think that was the name I was told of who was in charge.”

Michael put his head back down.  “Well, he won’t be able to help with getting your keys.  You’ll have to see Emanuel for that.”

“Right, right.  I’ll be sure to do that.”

“Yeah, but he’s gone too.”

“Do you know for how long?”

“Depends on how good the sex is.”

I blinked.  “Excuse me?”

“Have a seat, doctor.  Tell me about yourself.”

I let the comment pass and sat in a chair that was by Michael’s head.  It sunk in the middle, the way Sullivan’s couch did.  This time I let the furniture swallow me.  A few minutes of silence passed.

“You’re supposed to be telling me about yourself.”

“Why?” I groused.

“So I can know if you’re a liar.”

He turned his head and looked at me with his dark green eyes.  I could see now that they weren’t hazel at all.  They were a true deep green.  Not a very natural human color.

“What would you like to know?”

“What’s your first memory?”

Hmm.  Interesting question.  What _was_ my first memory?

“I remember—I remember the house we lived in before moving to Manassas.  We lived in Gulf Breeze, Florida.  And I remember riding my bike with two other girls.  I can’t remember them, but I remember we would all pick different names and I wanted to be Sally.”  I laughed.  “Sally.  That was my favorite name when I was four.”

“When did you decide you wanted to be a doctor?”

“Ah, well, I always wanted to be in medicine.  Nurse, veterinarian, pediatrician.  But, it was in ninth grade biology when we were dissecting fetal pigs that I knew I wanted to do pathology.”

Michael looked over at me and made a face.  “Ew.”

“What?  I find it fascinating.  I couldn’t ever be a surgeon.  I mean, it just seems wrong to be cutting into something that’s still alive.  Right?”

“Right,” he said with a lack of conviction.

“What about you?” I asked.

“We’re talking about you.”

“We could switch topics.”

“No, there’s still stuff I want to know.”

I stretched my legs out in front of me.  “Like what?”

“Like, are you seeing anyone right now?”

“I’m between boyfriends actually.”

“I see.  So, you’re looking for one?”

“No.”

“Maybe because you already found him?”

For a moment I thought he meant Shon, but then I noticed that he was smiling at me and waggling his eyebrows.  I rolled my eyes but smiled at the same time.

“Oh, come on, doctor.  Don’t act like you haven’t thought about it.”

“What?  With you?”

“Of course with me.”

“You’re too short for my tastes.”

“You’ve never seen me standing; how do you know how tall I am?”

“Because all your brothers are short.”

“Emanuel’s not.”

“I thought he broke the mold.”

“In more ways than one.  But, I’m different too.  I’m so very different.”

He closed his eyes and settled back into the couch.  His hands weren’t gripping the sides, but they were curved around the cushions, ready to grab on again if necessary.  I sighed and stood.  I didn’t feel like talking.  I just want to curl up in bed, but I didn’t have a bed here.  I moved by Michael and he grabbed my wrist.  I let out a yelp as he pulled me down on top of him.

“Come on, Olivia.  You must like me.  I can hear you in my head.  You like my name a lot.  Especially when you gasp it out when you’re being pushed into the headboard.”

I tried to sit up, but Michael kept his hold on me.  His eyes opened and met mine.  I struggled against him, but it was as useless as fighting against Ewan.

“Let me go.”

“Why?  I know you like saying my name.  Over and over.  You do it all the time.”

“You’re insane!  Let me go!  I’ve never called out your name under any circumstances!”

As soon as I said it, I knew it wasn’t true.  I had called his name before.  Not pertaining to _him_ , but I had called out Michael Farlini’s name.  I stopped struggling and Michael secured his grip on my arms.  He smiled up at me.

“Come on, do it again.  It sounds so nice when you say my name.”

“How do you know about Michael?  Did Yu—Emanuel say something?”

“No.  You did.  I know that if I hold one of your legs up and hit you at just the right angle, you’ll be more than just panting my name.”

I felt my breath come out in a shaky rattle.  This was getting out of hand.  I couldn’t move my upper body at all and my legs were half sprawled on him and half on the couch.  I wanted to get away from him, but I didn’t know how.  I wanted him to stop looking at me with those eyes.

“What’s the matter?  Most women are thrilled when a man can read their mind and know exactly what they want.”

I shook my head.  “You can’t read minds.”

“No, I can’t.”

I looked at him again.  “Let go!”

“You know, I’m surprised.  You’ve only had three lovers in your life.”

I inhaled sharply and felt tears prick my eyes.  These damn vampires had done their research alright.  But there was no need to share it with everyone.

“No, two lovers and one rape.”  I felt my eyes go wide, but before I could say anything he said, “I know, I know.  You say it wasn’t rape.  Not even date rape.  You were both drunk.  It was mutual.  That’s what your mind believes, but your body tells a different story.  The flesh doesn’t lie.”

I went completely still above him.  He looked at me with sad green eyes.  His hands eased their grip on my arms, but I didn’t try to get away.  He began to rub my arms to soothe where he had been holding me so tightly before.  I couldn’t feel it.

“How did you—there’s no way he could have known about that.  No one could have.”

“Did you ever ask yourself why I really keep myself glued to this couch?  You don’t really believe it’s because I’m afraid of the world being round, do you?”

I struggled to process his sentence.  “I don’t know.  A lot of people out there are stupid.”

He pushed me back to sit on the edge of the couch and scooted to a sitting position.  He propped his arm on the back of the couch and leaned his head on his hand.

“I don’t know if everybody else really buys it too, but they indulge me and let me stay here and never go anywhere.  I like this couch because it’s completely synthetic, even the frame.”

I looked at him needing a further explanation.

“I needed to hide it.  From everybody.  Especially Geri.  The one who made us.”

“Hide what?”

“I’m clairvoyant.”

I dry washed my face and then let my hands fall to my lap.  “There’s no such thing.”

“And wouldn’t you have said the same thing of vampires and wereanimals just a few days ago?”

I didn’t answer him.

“But a lot of people don’t believe in clairvoyants.  Most people don’t know we really exist.  Actually, as far as I know, I’m the only one alive right now.  Geri certainly didn’t know.  Or my life would have been much worse.  She picked us all for a specific reason.  Do you know what we all have in common?”

I shook my head.

“It’s not just that we’re small and pretty.  No, we were all abused as children.  And I’m sure you can imagine the type of abuse.  She found us all and befriended us.  For years she told us that the abuse could stop.  And when we were old enough for her, she made the abuse stop.”  He smiled wryly.  “But then a whole new type of abuse began.  Especially for me.  Do you know what it’s like to have to be in constant contact with people who have those kinds of memories screaming through them?  We forgot our names, but she never let us forget our own personal suffering.”

“So, you stay inside so you don’t have to touch anybody?”

He rubbed the side of his head and his fine hair slid through his fingers like silky water.  “It’s more than that.  It’s not just hands.  It’s everything.  Every inch of my skin can perceive.  I can even feel the ground through the soles of my shoes.  And it’s not just people, it’s animals and plants.  Hell, it doesn’t even have to be alive.  Metal, rocks, water, the ground we walk on.  It has something to say.  Some more peaceful than others, some more violent.  Like, touching dew gives a muted feeling while a lava rock burns through my head.  Pages in books remember being cut down and reduced to pulp.  Soil covering battlefields is always the saddest.  And people.  They drive me nuts.  How much they delude themselves.  What they think and feel and believe is usually so contradictory to what the body experiences.”

I just let his soft voice wash over me.  I understood his words, but it couldn’t really be true.  Could it?  “Do you never stop…?”

“Perceiving?  No, never.  Except when I’m on this couch.  This couch is completely fake.  Completely manmade.  And fortunately no one had an accident during its manufacture.  Although, it doesn’t help that the pants are real leather and the shirt real cotton.  I’m only safe when I’m naked.”

“You can feel your clothes?”

“I can feel everything.”

“But…”  I was having a hard time grasping what he was trying to say.  “I don’t understand.  What about your clothes do you feel?”

“Well, the shirt is cotton.  So there are some nice feelings about growing outside in the sun with lots of rain.  But then there is the harvest and the machines that stretched it out into string.  Then the sewing of the shirt and putting the buttons on it.  The pants, well it’s just the skin of the cow.  So, there isn’t anything too pleasant about it.  There’s hot sun, cold rain, annoying flies.  And then being cut from the carcass, stretched out, dyed.  I can only perceive what I’m touching.”

“So, do you feel the blade or the sewing or the stretching?”

He made a slightly frustrated face, but it was directed at himself.  “It’s not…physical.  Not really.  I can understand the physical pain as the object felt it, but my body doesn’t suffer.  It’s really a mental and emotional thing.  That’s why I like the word ‘perceive.’  But, even though it’s in my head, it’s not happening to me.  I feel others’ joy or sorrow, but it’s not really happening to me.  Sometimes if the feeling, whether mental or physical, is extreme it can be overwhelming.  So, it helps to pull away from the physical contact.  But, it’s not due to any real pain.”  He thought for a moment.  “It’s like when you go to a crime scene.  Sometimes there’s just something so horrible, you want to look away for a moment, right?”

I sort of nodded, riveted by his explanation of his life.

“Well, it’s like that.  You see the horrible thing, so you turn away or close your eyes almost reflexively.  Do you understand a little better?”

“Sort of.  But, if you’re always taking it in and can’t stop it unless you don’t touch it, how do you eat?”

He gave a small laugh.  “When I was human it was a problem.  Every meal tasted like confusion or fear or pain.  I drank a lot of milk when I was a child.  Milk was the only thing that never bothered me.  Because it was produced solely to feed young.  That is its purpose no matter what animal it came from.  So it always gave a feeling of safety and home.  I loved milk.  That’s why I’m actually pretty tall.  Relatively speaking of course.”

“How do you eat now?”

“Not easily.  When I actually had to touch people and feed on them, I always got sick.  I threw up every meal for decades before I could stomach it.  Mostly because I switched to children and infants.  Less angst.”

I took in a sharp breath and sat back with a little revulsion.  I couldn’t believe I was hearing this.

“And then the time came when I could just take blood from stored blood.  It was better without having to touch the person, but I can still feel the person inside of me.  But now, thanks to the miracles of modern science, I can drink synthetic blood.  I’m not as strong because it’s not like whole blood, but it does what I need it to.  Though strangely, I still get flashes with it too.”

“Most synthetic blood is made in part from real human blood,” I said automatically, remembering an article I had read not long ago.

“Ah.  That explains it.”

“Why—why are you telling me this?”

He shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I’ve kept it secret for such a long time.  I guess I just wanted someone else to know.  Someone who wouldn’t want me to use my ability.  I can’t tell my brothers.  And I can’t stand to be around them alone.  Their emotional baggage is way too much on top of my own.”

“But, how can you stand to have them all touch you at once?”

“Well, when stories build on top of each other, they start to blur what they’re saying.  It’s like trying to listen to several conversations at once.  They all just sort of blend in together into steady white noise.  It’s like, if I’m out in public and there are people all around me, I can’t take it because the ground and my clothes are talking to me.  And then I might get brushed by one person and get all of the person in me.  But, if all those people were to touch me at once, I’d get nothing except an oscillating wave of white static.  Some people louder, some people quieter, but they all blend together into nothing.”  He grinned at me.  “It’s one of the reasons why I’m big on group sex.”

I made a noise and shook my head.

“This ability has allowed me to understand something very important about orgasm.”

“And what’s that?”

“That in the end nothing matters but that one moment of release.  Whether it’s with someone you love or someone you just met or even if you’re being raped.  It you achieve that release, everything is blocked out for that one moment.  Everything but the pleasure of the moment.  It’s another reason I like sex so much.  When I orgasm, I don’t perceive anything.  It’s the one time I’m like everybody else and experience only what I’m feeling because truthfully, nobody else matters.”

I finally managed to find my muscles and stood up.  I only walked a few feet away and just stood there hugging myself.  I didn’t know if I believed him, but it sounded like a terrible existence if it were true.

“Do you want to know why else I chose to tell you?”

I turned to face him.  “Why?”

“Because you’re confused.  And you should understand yourself.  And I also can touch you with relatively little problems.  You haven’t really had tragedy touch you.  Your grandparents were dead before you were born.  Your parents and sisters and cousins and everybody are still alive.  None of your close friends or even not so close friends have died or had terrible things happen to them.  And while you see murder and torture victims everyday, you’ve got it all compartmentalized away.  But, most importantly, you deal with your pain.  You don’t squash it down or try to forget it.  You acknowledge it and come to terms with it.”  He looked down at his hands and looked for all the world like it had ended.  “I know Emanuel likes to say that the only constant in this universe is that everything has an opposite.  But that’s not it.  It’s everything has pain.  Whether physical or mental or whatever.  Everything experiences it somehow.  Even the happiest people have pain in their lives.  Even rocks that used to be a living part of this planet and are reduced to bits of cold, dead elements.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.  I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“So am I.  But, there is one thing you haven’t come to terms with.  That night you went to that frat party with your friend Jon.  And that other guy was flirting with you.  He took you up to his room.  Yes, you were drunk.  So was he.  And Jon took advantage of you.  That’s what he told you afterwards and you didn’t feel so bad since you didn’t sleep with a stranger.  And it’s true, you didn’t sleep with a stranger, but Jon did you a disservice.”

“Shh!”  I hushed him as I ran forward and sat beside him.  I covered his mouth with my hand.  “Shh.  Jon told me what happened.  He’s the one that did it.  It’s was stupid of us, but he pushed the other guy off me and did it himself.  I know that’s what happened.”

I looked away from Michael.  I kept that night buried far away in my subconscious.  I had trusted Jon to look out for me.  We had both gotten drunk and slept together.  That’s all it was.  It wasn’t with that other guy.  And it certainly wasn’t rape.  I knew that was true.  I needed to believe that was true.  I looked up saw my hand on his lips.  I jerked it away.

“I’m sorry.  Does that hurt?”

He shook his head.  “It doesn’t hurt.  Not to perceive things.  I just feel things the way the object does.  Some things deal with their existence better than others.  You are confusing, a little frightening because of your job, but you handle it well.  It doesn’t hurt.”

“Does it ever go away?  Or do you get desensitized with prolonged touching?”

He shook his head.  “No.  It never goes away.  It’s always the same.  Most clairvoyants go insane before they can walk.  We can’t talk or control a lot of what we touch.  And as infants we can’t understand what’s going on or why we’re feeling these things.  Birth is the worst thing.  I remember being born.  I was born in a time when women were not given drugs.  I came into the world with my mother’s labor pains and her emotional pain.  I was the last thing she wanted.  I was a child of rape.”

I flinched away from him.  Just the thought of what he was saying was making me feel queasy.  I couldn’t allow myself to believe it.  Ewan must have just given him some details of my life.  I wouldn’t put it past Ewan to know about that frat party.  He could have found out somehow.  I felt Michael’s arm slide around my shoulders and he pulled me into his body.

“It’s okay,” he said.  “I’ve learned how to keep secrets.  And I know what secrets need to be kept.  I won’t ever tell you anything you don’t want to know.”

He grabbed my jaw with his hand and forced me to face him.  He kissed me hard and because I was unprepared, he managed to slip his tongue into my mouth.  I was frozen for a moment, caught by the suddenness of it and the amazing talent.  Michael was very good at this sort of thing.  So good in fact, I didn’t hear the door open.

“No way!”

We pulled apart and saw Elijah standing in the door.

“No way!  Michael?  Over me?”  He stared in disbelief for a moment, and then shrugged.  He dropped a couple bags on the floor and jumped for the couch.  He fell on me and pushed us back into Michael.  Elijah’s lips found the side of my neck and I turned away from him, but that only gave him better access.  I started to turn in his grasp and saw Elijah’s hand fall onto Michael’s knee.  He jerked his leg back and struggled away from us.

“Elijah, stop!”

“Why?” he asked, sitting up.  “I’ll do you both.”

“Oh, geez.”  I wiggled my way out from underneath him and fell off the couch.  Elijah laid his head in Michael’s lap and I looked up to see if he was in pain.  He simply stroked Elijah’s fluffy hair and looked down at me with a blank face.

“Doesn’t it bother you?”  Maybe I shouldn’t have asked in front of Elijah, but I had to know.

“No,” Michael said smiling.  He drew Elijah up and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.  “He’s too focused on you right now.  It covers everything else.  And his horniness is covering up most of his body’s memories.”

Elijah pulled back.  “What are you talking about?”

“You,” Michael said and kissed Elijah on the lips.

It was enough to distract Elijah momentarily.  And I didn’t blame him.  Michael knew how to distract.  I looked away, a little embarrassed and a little shocked.  I’d seen men kiss on TV before, but never in person.  Maybe I was little sheltered.  Elijah pushed away from Michael and moved away so that they were on opposite ends of the couch.

“What was going on?  And why do you like him?” Elijah asked me plaintively.

“It’s not what you think, Elijah.  Like yours, his kiss was uninvited.”

“Oh.  Okay.  As long as you didn’t want it.”

“Oh, great.  Good to know that you don’t care if I’m sexually assaulted.”

Elijah shrugged.  “Michael would never hurt you.  I wouldn’t say that about a lot of people I know, but Michael can’t stand violence.  Makes him sick.”

I looked at Michael and he nodded.  I could understand why.  If he touched someone who was being attacked, he must feel the person’s terror and pain inside his own head.  If it were possible, that would be a terrific way to punish serial killers.

“Okay, lovely.  Is Emanuel back yet?”

“Don’t know.  We just got back ourselves.”

“How did I beat you here?”

“Brooks was hungry.  So we had to stop to eat.”

“Where?” I asked suspiciously.

“3512 Big Cove Road.”

I glared at Elijah.  That was an address.

“Don’t look surprised or suspicious.  We feed on people, Olivia.  Some people are willing donors.”

“Was this one?”

He ran his tongue along his teeth in what looked like annoyance.  “No.  We burst down some poor teenaged virgin’s door.  After we fucked her to a crying ruined mess of a person huddled on her pink carpet, we bled her dry.”

His sarcastic tone didn’t make me feel better.  The last time I’d had a description that detailed it had turned out to be true.  Elijah sighed exasperatedly.

“Her name is Amy Windom.  She’s still alive and nobody had sex.  You want her phone number so you can call and check on her?”

“No.”

Elijah crossed his arms in disgust.  He glared at a stain on the couch and I wasn’t sure if I should feel sorry or not.  He was a vampire after all.  He did eat people.  He’d nearly caused Jared to pass out when he fed on him.  How did I know that he didn’t get carried away and didn’t stop without someone there to tell him to?  And besides, it was Brooks who was hungry.  I didn’t know the guy.  He could very well not give a damn if he killed his victims.

“Come on, Elijah,” Michael said soothingly.  “She doesn’t mean anything personal by it.  It’s natural for her to be suspicious of vampires.  Now come here,” he motioned the young vampire toward him with a hand.  “Come over here and I’ll make you forget about it.”

“I don’t want to forget about it.  I’m not in the mood for sex.”

Michael laughed and crawled across the couch.  “You’re always in the mood for sex.”

He reached out to touch Elijah and then jerked his hand back when he made contact.  Elijah didn’t seem to notice and just hopped over the back of the couch and disappeared behind a closed door.  Michael sat on his heels, rubbing his fingers together.

“Wow.  He’s really angry.”

“Why?” I asked.

Michael looked at me and his eyes looked more brownish now, closer to hazel than green.

“Has he told you about his dreams?”

I shook my head.  “No, not exactly.”

“Well.  He had two about you.  The first is that he wakes up in bed with you looking down on him, holding his hand.”

I lifted an eyebrow.

“The second is that your face is the last thing he sees before he dies.  He thinks that if he can prevent the first one from happening, the second one never will.”

“So, why is he always hitting on me if he doesn’t want to wind up in bed with me?”

“He thinks that if he is too pushy and overly lascivious, it’ll be a huge turn off.  You’ll never want to sleep with someone who’s a huge jerk.  And he gets to fool around with you a little bit too.”

“So why didn’t he just tell me?”

“I don’t think he’s told anyone.  Not completely anyway.  I only know because I was lying beside him when he had the dreams.”

“But what does that have to do with why he’s so angry?”

“He thinks that for those two events to happen, you must be really close with him.  And it bothers him that someone who’s supposed to mean that much to him is disgusted by him.”

“I’m not disgusted by him.”

“Just by what he is.”

I shook my head.  That wasn’t true either.  Not entirely.  “That can’t be it.”

“Those are his thoughts exactly, Olivia.  I felt them.”

“Don’t you think that’s really invasive?”

“I can’t stop it.  Even if I told them about my gift, they probably wouldn’t stop touching me a little bit.  I’ll always know.”

“But you don’t have to tell everyone.”

“I don’t usually.  I just thought you should know.  To help understand him and why he is the way he is around you.”

I picked myself up off the floor and wondered how long Ewan would be gone, which gave me an idea.

“Hey, Michael…”

He closed his eyes and let his head fall back.  “Mmm, say my name again.”

I did the next best thing.  I picked up my foot and kicked him in the shoulder.  He fell against the back off the couch, rubbing his shoulder.

“Ow.”

“You deserved it.  Now, the next time you see Emanuel, could you tell me what’s going on with him?”

“Actually, no I can’t.  Shannon doesn’t give off anything.  At all.  I can touch him all I want and get nothing.  He expanded that to Emanuel.  He doesn’t like for anyone to know what’s going on with Emanuel.”

So that explained why Michael still thought Emanuel and Ewan were two different people.

“How?” I asked.

He shrugged.  “Don’t know.  Shannon isn’t one of us, you know.  He’s something else.  And sometimes he can do things that we don’t know how or why he does.  But, since I can touch Emanuel without getting anything, I would love to have sex with him on this couch.  No clothes, nothing with an essence of any kind, and a person who can’t share anything with me.  It would be like, real, normal sex.  But, he wouldn’t do it.  He might if I told him about my problem, but I’d rather not have him know.”  He looked at me with wide eyes suddenly.  “You won’t tell, will you?”

“No.  Your secret’s safe with me.”

Michael smiled.  “I kinda don’t believe you.  You’re terrible at keeping secrets.  Remember when you let it slip that Georgie and Kevin had done it in the band room?”

That sent a stab of guilt through me.  I had only hinted about it, but it was enough.  The whole school knew inside of sixth period.  Georgie had never forgiven me.  Or spoken to me again.  She had been one of my closest friends and I had broken her confidence.  I had never quite forgiven myself for that one indiscretion.  I scowled at Michael.  I was not going to like him knowing that much about me.

The door Elijah had disappeared behind opened and he stomped out like a child that had been sent to his room.  He was heading for the fridge, but paused as he saw Michael hanging over the back of the couch.  He stomped over to him instead.  He slid his fingers through Michael’s hair and Michael closed his eyes as Elijah petted him.  Then his hands slid down to cup Michael’s face and they came together.  I was just at the right angle to see tongues slide against each other as they sought access to the other’s mouth.  I looked away, blushing.

“You’re right,” I heard Elijah murmur, “I’m always in the mood for sex.”

I threw my hands in the air and headed for the door.  “I’ll wait outside.  See you guys later.”

“You could stay,” one of them said.

“I told you I liked group,” said the other.

I was already out the door.


	16. Neighbors

I made sure the door was shut firmly behind me and leaned against it in defeat.  What was I doing thinking that I could live here?  There probably wasn’t a single resident that didn’t have questionable sex acts as part of his or her daily routine.  A hand landed on my shoulder and I gave a girly shriek as I jumped away.  I spun around to see who was trying to have sex with me now and Sullivan stood with his hand still in the air and very wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

I saw Brooks standing behind him playing with a lighter as he didn’t put much effort in trying to hide his amusement.

“Nothing,” I said.  “What do you want?”

Sullivan lowered his hand and put on a blank, disinterested face.  “I just wanted to know if you wanted to be around when I questioned Brooks.  Ilona agreed to stay with the children a little while longer.”

“Oh.”  Good response, Olivia.

“We’ll talk in the main office.  But I want to ask Elijah something first.”

He started for the door and I reached out to stop him.

“You might not want to go in there right now.”

“Why not?” he asked, sidestepping me and opening the door.

I tried really hard not to look.  Well, not that hard.  I looked inside as soon as the door was open wide enough.

Elijah and Michael sat Indian style on the couch.  They each held a controller with a cord stretched as far as it would go.  On the TV a samurai and a ninja were kicking the crap out of each other.  The boys were staring at the TV screen very intently.  And you know that expression people get on their faces when they’ve just done something “funny,” but they’re trying really hard not to laugh or pretend like they notice anything because the person they were fooling is in the room?  Yeah, that was the expression those two jerks had on their faces.

Brooks looked in after us and gave a soft, scoffing laugh.  “Michael, so good to see you sitting up,” he said a little condescendingly.

“Brooks,” Michael replied in the same tone not looking away from the TV, “so good to see you awake.”

Elijah covered his mouth with a hand to hide a laugh and Brooks took a step into the room.  Sullivan put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.

“Go wait over there,” he said not indicating a direction.

Brooks gave one last glare into the room and then moved away.

“Elijah, where is Aislinn?”

“I don’t know.  She dropped me and Brooks off and then said she had to run an errand.”

“Great,” Sullivan muttered.

He pulled the door shut and walked toward the corridor on the other side of the lobby.  Brooks and I moved away from the walls we had been leaning against and followed him.  Brooks continued to play with his lighter.  Flick it open, get a flame, snap it shut.  Over and over.  I wondered if he was going to do that during the interrogation.  No, wait, wait.  Not interrogation.  He was the victim.  I scowled at Brooks’ back as I followed him into Ewan’s office.  It was never a good sign when people just gave off the vibe that they were the bad guy.

“Have a seat, Brooks,” Sullivan said as he wheeled the big comfy chair from behind the desk to be near the two less comfortable chairs on the other side.  He sat down in the big comfy one.  Brooks and I got the squeaky chairs.  Sullivan crossed his legs and put his hands on his knee.  He sat so straight; I was almost certain his back wasn’t touching the chair.  That took some impressive back muscles to sit that still.

“Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

“Look, dude, I really don’t know anything.”  Flick, flame, snap.  “I was just wandering in the mall—”

“Why were you in the mall?” I asked.

“Why were _you_ in the mall?  Fucking shopping.”

“Shopping for what?  You were in the food court.”

“It’s just the entrance I came in, all right?”

“Why would you go in the entrance by the food court?  It can’t be near anything you would want.”

“It’s the first time I was ever in that goddamned mall.  I didn’t know where the fuck anything was.”  Brooks turned to Sullivan.  “What the fuck is this?  Why is she acting like I’m the fucking suspect?”

“Why are you so defensive?  Unless you’re feeling guilty about something.”

“Go find some carpet to lick, bull dyke.”

I barely got out an offended huff when Sullivan said, “Watch it, Brooks.  You know who she is.”

“That’s just great,” I said.  “Everyone but me knows who I am.”

“You’re a lady,” Sullivan said, still eyeing Brooks.  “And she’s to be treated as one.”

“A lady?  I can smell three different men on her.  Including you.”

I blinked.  He could smell men on me?  Just how good was vampire olfaction?

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t exactly my idea to have three different men on me today.”

Brooks sighed and slumped down in his chair, hooking an arm over the back and splaying his legs.  Flick, flame, snap.

“Here’s the thing.  I was in the mall cruising for a meal, okay?  I was just gonna hook up with some chick and feed off her during some nasty coitus action.  I don’t know anyone here.  And I didn’t know who to ask for a list.”

“A list?” Sullivan and I asked together.

“Yeah, a list of willing donors.  The werefucks got together and made a list of willing donors in every area.  If we put our names on a list for them, then they spread that to the donors so they know who we are when we show up.”

“So, you’re saying there’s a list of every vampire in the world floating around out there?” I asked.

“Not every vampire,” Sullivan said.  “I’m certainly not on it.”

“So this couldn’t account for the killer knowing how many of you there are.”

“No, but it could certainly help him find us.  Whose brilliant idea was this?” Sullivan directed at Brooks.

“I don’t know.  Shyla told me about it.  She said one of the weres out in California thought up the idea.”

My cell phone started to blast out its tinny version of the “Stars and Stripes.”  Sullivan nodded for me to take it outside.  I stood up and noticed Brooks’ eyes followed my chest.  Nice.  I walked out into the corridor and shut the door behind me as I looked down to make sure that Elijah, among other people, couldn’t see my nipples.  All clear.  I flipped open the phone without checking the number and said a less than enthusiastic greeting.

“Dr. Milligan?” a smooth baritone voice asked.  I thought I recognized it.  “It’s Scott.”  Oh, yes.  Phone sex guy.

“Scott.  Hello.  How are you?”

“I—” he broke off as if surprised.  “Uh, I’m fine, thank you.  And yourself?”

“Been better.”

“Yes, uh…I found out something interesting about some of the residents in Norfolk.”

“And that is?”

“There are three families that have been in the area for a long time.  That’s not too surprising in and of itself; Virginia has one of the oldest European settlements, so it’s plausible for a family to have roots going back two, even three hundred years.”

“Uh-huh.”

“However, the holdings of these three families are a little suspect.  The inheritance and transfer of deeds seems to be going to distant relatives that usually appear from out of no where just in the nick of time.”

“In other words, the relatives aren’t really true inheritors, but a way to keep the assets from being turned over to the government or some relative that the rest of the family doesn’t like.”

“Exactly.  In two out of three cases.  The third case, however, is a known wereanimal.  Which means more than likely, it hasn’t been passing from hand to hand, but has remained in the possession of the same person.  He’s just trying to hide the fact that he’s the same person who’s been alive for a lot longer than people should be.”

“Okay.  So, someone who’s been in the area for a long time.  Is he rich?  As in, enough to convince errant fairies to work for him?”

“Oh, yeah.  He owns a publishing company, which in turn owns satellite publishing companies and book stores.  Plus he got into stocks early.  Really early.  And some of them have turned out to be very good investments.”

“Oh, let me guess.  Starts with an ‘m’ and ends in an ‘icrosoft.’”

“Good guess.”

“Okay, so he’s got money enough to persuade the fairies, but could he find them?”

“I think so.  If he’s lived in the area for two, three hundred years, and has that much money, it’s possible that the fairies came to him.”

“Two or three hundred years?  I thought wereanimals could only live up to a hundred and fifty years.”

“Well, there are exceptional cases.”

“And this is one of them?”

“I strongly feel that it is.  Because if he had been around for so long, that would attract the local fairies’ attention.”

“So, if they came to him, maybe that explains why his killing method changed.”

“And even better.  I have a witness that places him in England in 1951.  After that there’s no hard evidence of his being at the other murder hotspots, but—”

“At that point he’d probably start being careful and methodical.”

“Exactly.”

“Great.  So who is it?”

I heard Scott heave a sigh.  “Yeah, I thought you might want to know that.”

I really wished Scott could see the expression on my face at that moment.  “Uh—yeah.”

“Well, like I said, he’s a wereanimal.”

“Um-hmm.”

“And if I give the name to you, you’re going to give it to them.  More specifically _him_.”

That must mean Ewan.  “Probably, yes.”

“Well, what if he’s innocent?  You must realize, we don’t have a law system to protect those suspected of crimes in the Underground.  Let me do a little more digging.  Find something a little more solid.  I can’t risk those troglodytes getting his name and torturing and killing him and it turns out that he’s innocent.”

Troglodytes?  “But what if he’s guilty?  How many more people will die before you decide to come forward?  And what if I tell Ewan you know, but you won’t tell me?  Do you think he might fly out to see you?”

“Yes, I do.  So, I’d appreciate it if you could keep this to yourself unless you want my death on your hands.  Just give me a little more time.”

I shifted my weight and moved the phone to the other ear.  I moved it back to my left side; it felt more comfortable over there.

“Okay.  I’ll give you some time.  A couple days though.”

“A couple days?  Come on.  I have continents and decades to search through.”

“Fine.  One week.  Unless there’s another murder.  Then you tell me or I tell Ewan.”

“I understand.”

“So…why did you call me?  If you won’t give me a name to investigate.”

“Well, I kinda figured the information I gave you will let you narrow down what company I’m talking about.  Though the specific person I have in mind won’t be as obvious.  But, on your end, you can investigate his company and see if there has been any suspicious use of company funds.”

“Like, using the petty cash to hire fairies to kill vampires?”

“Something like that.”

“Can you at least give me the name of the company?”

“Princess Publishing.”

“Princess Publishing?  I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s the parent company.  It doesn’t do much on its own.”

“Well, you’ve really been helpful.  Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?”

“Loud and clear, ma’am.”

“Do you have any clue as to where the fairies are in this area?”

“Find a forest by a body of water.  Preferably a forest that hasn’t been disturbed much by modern invasions.”

“Yeah, like that’s possible.”

“There’s a got to be a nature preserve somewhere around there.  Isn’t there like, old stuff there?”

I thought back to fourth grade Virginia history.  “Well, Jamestown and Yorktown and stuff.”

“So, start there.”

“You want me to go exploring up and down the James River looking for fairies?”

“Do you like to kayak?”

“No,” I said pointedly.

Scott laughed and his rich voice vibrated through my body.  I really liked that laugh.  Focus.

“Well, maybe I can teach you sometime.  It’s really a great sport.  Good cardio.”

“Mm-hmm.  I’ll stick to jazzercise thanks.  No chance of drowning if you keel over.”

“Well, if worst comes to worst, I’ll come scour the riverbanks with you.”

“And be this close to Ewan?”

“I’ll bring my sister along.  That’ll send him packing in no time.”

“Ah, would that be Green something?”

“Greenlee?  I see her reputation precedes her.”

“Not really.  She’s just been mentioned.”

“Olivia!”

I started violently and plastered myself against a wall as I turned to see who was after me.  I heard Scott calling my name over the phone line.  Sullivan was leaning partway out of the office with a cell phone pressed to his ear.

“Olivia, catch!”

Sullivan threw the phone at me and I put a hand up more to block it than catch it.  It fell to the floor and Sullivan put his hands on his hips and gave me a look.  I frowned at him and picked up the phone.

“Hello?” I said into it, feeling silly because I still had my phone pressed to the other ear.

“Olivia?” two voices said my name.

I moved the second phone away from my mouth and said to Scott, “Can you hang on a second?”

“Yeah, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.  Hang on.”

I moved that phone away and brought back the second one.

“Yes, this is Olivia.”

“It’s Ewan.”

I frowned to myself.  It didn’t sound like Ewan.  People sometimes sound different over the phone, but not this much.

“What’s up?”

“I need to meet with you tomorrow on your lunch break.”

I frowned further.  I had to go to work tomorrow.  Like, real work.  Boo.  “Okay, where?  And where are you now?  I need the key to my apartment.”

“I gave it to Sullivan.”

“Oh.”  A little guilt wormed through me.  I might have known that if I hadn’t been such a bitch to him.  “Right.  I’ll ask him for it.”

“Do you want to meet in the mall?”

“No,” I said firmly, and a little too quickly.  But I’d had enough of that mall for a while.

“O—kay.  How about you just come back to the complex then?  I’ll meet you in your apartment, or mine or the lobby.  Wherever you feel comfortable.”

“Wherever I feel comfortable?  Is this really Ewan?”

He laughed and when he spoke it sounded more like him.  “We could meet at the pool.  There’s an indoor pool in the back of the building.”

“Really?”

“Yep.  Ask Sullivan for the key to Rosa’s apartment.  I’m sure she’d have a bathing suit you could borrow.”

“Ha, ha,” I said dryly.  “My apartment.  I’ll see you then.”

“ _C_ _aidil gu mhath an Slanaighear againne_.”

“Eh?”

“Good night.”

“That’s a heck of a lot to say just for goodnight.”

“Loose translation.  See you tomorrow.”

He hung up on me.  Jerk.  I returned to Scott.

“Scott?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for the work you’re doing.  I know it’s probably not what you want to be doing, but I mean, we are talking about people’s lives here.”

“People?  You call those monsters people?”

I didn’t respond immediately.  What could I say?  I had thought the same thing at first, hadn’t I?  I looked down the hall at where Sullivan was still leaning part way out of the office door.  His shockingly dark eyes stood out brightly in his stark face.  This man had taken in five abandoned children.  He had loved a woman deeply.  He made me care about his well being.  I didn’t really know much about vampires, but I did know that Sullivan was not a monster no matter what his feeding habits might be.

“Not all of them,” I finally said.

Scott sighed.  “No, you’re right.  Not all of them.”

“One week, Scott.  Sooner if possible.  I’ll be waiting for your call.”

“I’ll try not to keep the lady waiting.  Goodbye.”

“Bye.”

I flicked my phone shut and looked up.  I started back, but managed to keep from screaming.  Sullivan was not two feet away.  Damn sneaky for someone who played innocent so well.  He held his hand out and I gave him back his phone.

“What did Ewan want?”

“To set up an appointment.”

“Oh.”

We stood awkwardly for a few moments, and then I said, “Uh, Ewan said that you, uh, have my key.”

“Yes, I do.”

We continued to stand there.

“Can I have it?”

“Sure.”

Sullivan did the magical vampire digging into a pocket and pulling out exactly what he wants trick.  He handed me three keys.

“The big one is for the door to the building.  This one is for your apartment.  And the small one is for your mail box.”

“Speaking of which, what is the address out here?”

“There isn’t one.”

“Then…how do we get our mail?”

“Your P.O. box number is on the key.  You have to get your mail at the main branch post office.  We don’t allow anyone to come here who doesn’t live here.  Not even the mailman.”

“So, I guess this is one time when the mail won’t go through.”

“Definitely not.  Too risky.”  Sullivan glanced down at the expensive watch on his wrist.  “It’s already almost six.  Would you like me to make you dinner?”

I gave him a look.  “What could you possibly offer me?”

“The children don’t live on blood.  I have actual food in my refrigerator.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Sullivan started for the elevator and I followed.

“Are you done with me?” Brooks yelled after us.

“For now,” Sullivan replied.

We entered the elevator and started up to the tenth floor.  Our floor.  The two neighbors.  How weird was that?

“Although, I must warn you, I’m not a _good_ cook.  When I was human, I had servants who brought me food.  I was a teenager before I even understood the concept of preparing food.  I thought that’s just the way food came.  And once I was changed, well I had no need to learn.  And then the children came along.”  He gave a laugh.  “There was definitely some dangerous experimentation done in the early years.  The invention of Easy Mac has greatly improved my life.”

I smiled.  “How old are the children?  Why can’t they take care of themselves after all this time?”

Sullivan unlocked the door to his apartment, but didn’t open it as he turned to me.

“Male lions leave the pride when they are about a year old.  They live in groups learning how to be adult lions.  But, would you send a ten year old human off in a pack of other boys to fend for themselves until they’re ready to mate?  Humans have an incredibly long dependency stage, especially considering their short life span.  Fairies live even longer and tend to have long childhoods as well.”

“Fairies?” I asked, trying to convey my lost confusion as best I could.

Sullivan smiled and reached out a hand to brush back a lock of hair that had gotten caught on the corner of my mouth.  His skin felt soft as it brushed against mine.

“Now, do you think there is only one kind of fairy?  And they all look like Tinkerbell?  What you have to realize is that ‘fairy’ is an _extremely_ generic word.  Most people think of the Welsh, Irish, or even British fairies when they hear the word.  Like Ewan did when I mentioned the killer might be a fairy.  They’re the only kinds that have kings and queens.  A lot of fairies are solitary and are quite varied.  They range all over the world from the cururipur in South America to the abatwa of southern Africa to the yousei and youkai of Japan.  Some are small, some are large.  Some are benevolent and others malevolent.  Some are of the earthly realm and some are of not so earthly realms.  That’s why I was so lost when we first thought the killer might be using a fairy.  It’s a lot of research to go through.”

“Really.”  Amazing how Scott had narrowed it down so fast.  I kept that to myself.

The door opened and Sullivan looked just as surprised as I was.  A beautiful woman looked out at us with a hand on her hip.  She had tanned skin and dark brown hair in two buns on the top of her head.  I would have said her eyes were very dark if I didn’t have Sullivan as a comparison.  She wore a white blouse tucked into a kind of brown overall dress.  She was barely five feet tall and seemed out of place somehow.

“Ilona,” I heard Sullivan say, and then he continued in a different language.  They spoke softly for a few minutes; Ilona clearly doing a little scolding.  Finally Sullivan sighed and turned to me.

“Olivia, this is Ilona.  I’m afraid she doesn’t speak any English.  I don’t suppose you know any Hungarian, do you?”

“No, sorry.  Wasn’t offered in high school.”

“What about German?”

“I took Latin.”

Sullivan shook his head.  “You’re useless.”

“Am I now?  Should I start looking for somewhere else to live?”

“Don’t get offended,” he said with a smile.  “You’re a woman.  You can only be good for one thing at a time.”  He winked at me and managed to get me into his apartment and Ilona out of it in one shuffling, guiding maneuver.  Ilona protested for a moment.  Sullivan responded and shut the door in her face.

“That was a little rude.”

“Oh, don’t even start,” Sullivan said with mock annoyance.  “Ilona is great with the children, but she unfortunately likes to think that we’re all her children.  She’s older than most of us.  Even more so now that several of the oldest ones have been killed.”

He moved into his kitchen and opened a cupboard.  He looked back at me with a sheepish expression.

“I don’t suppose you want macaroni and cheese, do you?”

“Sounds great.”

“Excellent!  This, I know I won’t screw up.  Nine times out of ten anyway.”

Sullivan pulled out a pot and began to fill it with water.  I took the liberty to wander around his apartment.  Ilona had definitely been busy; the place was mostly clean.  There was a corner where toys, games, coloring books, and other young person paraphernalia were shoved into a neat pile.  But other than that, there was walking space and actual places to sit on the questionable furniture.  I noticed there were no breakables below five feet and there were no pictures.  And no TV.  Shouldn’t the kids at least be able to see the outside world if they couldn’t go into it?  Where were the little buggers anyway?

“Sullivan?”

“Yes?” he looked up from concentrating over his boiling water.

“Where are—do—how do the children fit in here with you?  Isn’t this a two bedroom?”

“Oh, yeah.  If you go around the corner there back toward the bedroom you’ll see that a wall has been knocked out.  Technically the two apartments on this side of the hall are one.  The children’s rooms are over there.”

I nodded and picked up a small, delicate-looking vase.  It was very pretty blue pottery with green veins running through it.

“So, is this like, from the Ming dynasty or something?” I asked.

Sullivan dumped the pasta into the boiling water, looked panicked, checked the box again, sighed relief, and began stirring.  Then he looked over at me.

“Oh, no.  I got that at the Pottery Barn.  You like it?”

I smiled.  “Yeah, it’s nice.  Were you alive during the Ming dynasty?”

He shrugged.  “When was that?”

I shrugged.  “Don’t know.  I think it’s pretty old though.”

“So, why don’t you just ask me how old I am?”

“Because nobody answers direct questions around here.  Well, Elijah does, but usually I don’t want to know the answer.”

Sullivan grinned and checked his wristwatch.  I bet he was going to make sure that pasta boiled for exactly seven minutes.

“Oh, Elijah.  I usually don’t wish vampirism on anybody, but I’m glad I’ve had the chance to meet him.  He’s a…special boy.”

“You could say that,” I muttered.  Louder I said, “So, how old are you?”

“How old do you think?”

“See!  No direct answer.”

“True.  But, I never said I would give you one, did I?”

Damn.  Had me there.  “I don’t know.  At least over fifty since you were alive in 1951.”

“This is true.”

He snapped off the heat and moved to a cabinet to find something.  He pulled out a measuring cup and I headed into the kitchen to see if he really did know what he was doing.

“You are going to drain that, right?”

“But, it says not to drain it.  I remember.”

He stood guard in front of the pot of pasta.

“No, I don’t think it does.  Trust me.  I’ve made a lot of mac and cheese in my day.”

He picked up the box and read the instructions again as he moved toward the refrigerator.  “Twelve eighty,” he said, his top half disappearing into his refrigerator.

“What?” I asked, draining the pasta over the sink.

He closed the door and handed me a stick of butter.

“I was born in twelve eighty.  In Denmark.  I was born to nobles during a time of civil strife when the nobles were wresting power from the royalty.  Hence, the pampering.  And you don’t drain Easy Mac.”

“I see,” I said as I stirred the powder cheese into the macaroni.  “But this isn’t Easy Mac.”

Sullivan held out a bowl to me and I dumped about half the mac and cheese into it.  We moved toward his large kitchen table, which was positioned in front of the wall of windows, just like in Shannon’s apartment.  Only this view was of the sun setting over the front grounds of the complex.  I sat at the end of the table, facing the kitchen.  I was trying to work Danish nobility into what I already knew about Sullivan and found too many pieces that didn’t quite fit.  Though Nordic blood certainly did explain the hair and complexion.  I took a bite of my dinner and then pointed the fork at Sullivan where he sat next to me with his back to the front door.

“Sullivan Flanagan isn’t your real name I take it.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Do you remember your real name?”

“Yes.”

I waited, and then sighed.  “Do I have to tell you I’d like you to expand on your yes or no answers?”

“You could ask questions that aren’t yes or no.”

Why were vampires so difficult?  Or was that just men?

“Can you tell me your real name?”

“What does it matter?  My name is Sullivan now.”

“Why?  Why does everyone change their names?”

“Not everyone changes their name.  And it’s not really so much that we choose to change our names as that we’re given new ones by the ones who make us.  You see, names are supposed to have a meaning.  In modern times, generational or meaningful naming has been virtually lost.  People just like to name their kids something that sounds different and unique.  But, all names originally had a meaning as obvious as the names Summer or Hope still are.  So, our new parents name us accordingly.”

“Like the Brothers?”

“Well, that’s a little bit different.  Though I suspect their names have some personal significance besides just being similar.  Maybe I shouldn’t explain this to you, but vampires actually live under a bit of a matriarchal dictatorship.  Most of the oldest and strongest vampires are female.  And they created themselves harems of men to follow them around.  So, they named us and take care of us.  Women are rarely turned because they don’t like sharing the power.”

Hmm.  Interesting.  “But, Ewan seems pretty powerful.  I mean, everyone’s afraid of him or at least accepts his role as leader.”

“Well, Ewan, as you might imagine, is a bit of a special case.  His maker should have known better than to pick him.  She had no chance of controlling of him.  And as a result he became tied to Shannon.  And has hated her ever since.”

“Okay, so what’s up with Shannon?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know myself.  And what I do know I’m not going to share.  So, you might want to move off that topic.”

I frowned at him.  He sat with his hands clasped on top of the table and leaned against the back of his chair.  He looked more casual than he had during Brooks’ interview, but not much.

“Why Sullivan?” I asked.

He blinked.  “Why did my maker name me Sullivan?”

“Yes.”

He looked serious as he answered.  “Sullivan is a name of Celtic origins meaning dark-eyed.”

I looked at him and could feel my lips fighting to break into a smile.  He broke first and smiled.  I laughed and he joined me.

“I can’t tell if that’s really clever or really unimaginative,” I said as I scraped the last of the macaroni from the bowl.

“Unimaginative.  Trust me.  Glenys didn’t put too much thought into the names she gave.  Though I guess I should be thankful she didn’t go ahead with her original plan to name me Finola.”

“Does it mean pale?”

“Close.  White haired.  It’s also a girl’s name.”

“So, where is Glenys now?”

Sullivan shrugged.  “No clue.  She could be dead.  Probably not, but I don’t know for sure.”

“There’s not, like, some mystical bond that let’s you know when your people are killed?”

“No.  I don’t know how we’re made, but it’s not like some great blood-letting sexual bonding thing.”

“Hmm.  So, what happens when you first change?”

Sullivan finally relaxed back in his chair.  “All I can tell you is that I agreed to become a vampire.  She leaned in close to me and bit down.  There was a vague darkness that I remember being aware of.  But, really, the next thing I knew I was trapped in a coffin six feet under ground.  I broke through and clawed my way to the surface.  And she was waiting for me on my grave marker.  Two months had passed.”

Here was some interesting information.  What did I want to talk about more?  The two month “gestation” period or the fact that he _wanted_ to be a vampire?

“So, was that just you, or do all vampires take two months to turn from human to vampire?”

“I’m really not sure.  I’m sorry I can’t help, Olivia.  Our makers didn’t like to share that kind of information.  They liked to be in control.  Especially concerning how many of us there were and who we were.  But, I do know that there is a time when, for all intents and purposes, we are dead enough that our human families believe us to be so.  Our makers are responsible for making sure our bodies aren’t burned or disturbed while the changes take place.”

“And you wanted those changes to take place?”

“Well, it’s sort of a classic be careful what you wish for kind of thing.  I was young, rich, powerful, and handsome.  Keeping that for all eternity sounded like a good thing.”

“Until you were made to join your maker’s harem?”

“Until the first time I had to drink blood.  Blood is blood whether you’re a human or a vampire.  It tastes the same.  There is no blood lust or anything like that.  Some vampires like the taste more than others.  As do some humans I might add.”

“So how do you know when to feed?  I mean, that secondary pumping organ in your bodies is more like a heart than a stomach.  Are you aware when you’re hungry?”

“We don’t get hungry.  Not in the true sense of the word.  We still use it though.  What we feel is a sense of weakness or tiredness.  It means we need our energy to be replenished.”

“So, you don’t get hungry, just tired?”

He shrugged.  “I guess.”

I eyed him warily.  “How are you feeling, Sullivan?”

He threw his head back to laugh and then looked at me with sparkling eyes.  “I feel fine, Olivia.”

I tilted my head in confusion as I looked at him.  “Your fangs…you don’t have them out.  Why did you leave them out the whole time I was with you that first time?”

“Ewan told me to.”

“Do you do everything Ewan tells you to do?”

“No.”

“So why did you do it that time?”

“It sounded like fun.”  He smiled at me in a way I didn’t particularly like.  “And it was.”

I frowned.  “I thought you were the nice one.”

“Oh, my darling, I _am_ the nice one.”

Someone rapped sharply on the front door and I started.  I sighed in quiet frustration.  Living with these people was either going to give me nerves of steel or drive me to an early grave.

“Come in,” Sullivan called.

The door opened and Aislinn strode in wearing nothing more than a black silk negligee.  And a short one at that.  Her hair was still perfectly styled, and even though she wore no make-up, she was still beautiful.  She sashayed across the room and Sullivan turned and hooked an arm over the back of his chair so that he could watch her.  She stopped once she neared us and put a hand on her hip with her feet about shoulder length apart.  She kinda looked like one of Charlie’s angels.

“You looking in on me, Sully?  Or being a stooge for Ewan?”

I sat back in my chair and got comfortable for the show.

“What have I done now, princess?”

“Elijah told me you were looking for me.”

“So?  Maybe I wanted sex.”

“You haven’t slept with me in a century.  Why would you now?”

There was a pause.  And then, “Well, Henry’s gone now…”

Aislinn slapped Sullivan and the force spun him around to face me.  He opened his mouth as he flexed his jaw and rubbed his cheek with a hand.  Then he turned back around and hooked his arm over the chair again.

“Do not be like him, Sullivan.”

“Like who?”

“God damn it.  I thought we were past this.  Why do you always side with him?  Why do you do what he tells you to?”

“Because I owe my life to him.”

“No, you owe your life to Ewan.”

Whoa.  I just got lost.  Weren’t they talking about Ewan before?

“Ewan?  No, no.  You’ve got that wrong.  I don’t owe him my life, I owe him my soul.  And there is a difference.”

Geez.  What was going on?

“Sullivan,” Aislinn said, her voice turning to pleading, “can’t you tell me where he is?”

“He’s dead, Aislinn.  Ewan saw him, Olivia saw him.  He’s dead.”

“Then why couldn’t I see him?  Why can’t I at least see the photos?”

“Do you really want to?”

“Would I ask if I didn’t?”

“I just think that you don’t believe he’s really dead.  Why would we lie?”

“That’s what I can’t figure out!”  Aislinn knelt by Sullivan and put her hands on his leg.  He turned his arm up so that he could lean his head on his hand as he looked down at her.  “Why would you lie?  What good could possibly come of this?”

“Aislinn—”

“What color was his hair?” she asked suddenly, looking at me.

“Who’s?”

“Henry’s.  What color was it?”

“Blonde,” I said.

“We’re not lying,” Sullivan said.

“Fine.”  Aislinn sat back on her heels.  “Why did you want to see me then?”

“Because I knew you would be doing this.  Trying to find him.  Running around Norfolk looking for your dead lover.  I accepted the fact that Carmen died.”

“You got to see a body!”

Sullivan sighed and looked away.  “Look, Ewan never does anything without a reason.  A good reason.  And there’s a reason he doesn’t want you to see the body or the pictures.  So, it must be a good one.”

“Sully, you’re stronger than this.”  Aislinn put her hands back on his leg and slid them slowly and carefully up his thigh.  “You know he doesn’t own you.  And you know for damn sure that you don’t owe him anything.”  One hand ran over his hip and the other dipped down toward his groin.  “You could stand up to him.”

Sullivan sprung out his chair, almost stumbling over it in his haste to back away from Aislinn.

“Stand up to Ewan?  And where exactly do you think that would get us?”

I saw him just before he spoke.  “Not very far at all,” Ewan said as he wrapped an arm across Sullivan’s clavicles and gripped his shoulder.

I blinked at his sudden appearance.  How the hell did he get in the room with none of us noticing?

Sullivan lowered his face away from where Ewan looked at us over his shoulder, but his body was completely relaxed against Ewan’s.  Aislinn was still on her knees, glowering up at the two men.  Sullivan caught her expression and moved out of Ewan’s embrace.  Ewan was wearing khakis and a blue button down shirt that highlighted the blue tones that made up the perfect green of his eyes.  He looked completely apathetic.

“I saw Henry’s body, my love.  He’s dead and gone.  I wanted to spare you the pain.  He didn’t look too good after the autopsy.”

I felt that guilt again.  I should have been more careful with his body.  I met Ewan’s eyes and knew he was thinking the same thing.  Yeah?  Well, screw him.  I slumped down in my chair and let the vampires have it out.

“My heart, why don’t you return to your room?” Ewan directed at Aislinn.

Aislinn looked at the floor and didn’t protest, but she didn’t move to leave either.

“Why are you here anyway?” she groused.

Good question I thought.

“Sex wasn’t good,” Ewan said flatly.

That forced me to look at him again.  It was more disturbing because it echoed what Michael had said earlier.  Aislinn shook her head and had a sardonic, bemused smile on her face.

“Why do you shut me out?” she asked softly.

“Please leave, Aislinn.”  This from Sullivan who sat hunched in on himself on the arm of the sad couch.

What was with these people?  Why did they have so many issues?  I really didn’t think a long life accounted for it.  They must have been messed up as humans as well.

I stood up to give the trio some privacy, but Aislinn jumped to her feet.  And I mean literally went from her knees to her feet without hands or anything.  Impressive.

“Fine.”  She strutted for the door, hips swaying and curls bouncing.  Among other things.  She paused at the door and spun to face the room in dramatic flare.  “Just don’t expect any sex for at least another hundred years.”

I think we all winced as the slamming of the door reverberated around the walls.

“Shit,” Sullivan muttered.

He got up off the couch and jogged toward the back of the apartment.  He rounded the corner and soon there was a chorus of soft voices asking what was going on and Sullivan trying to soothe them and send them back to their rooms.

Ewan had his hands on the back of the chair Sullivan had been sitting in.  He leaned his weight forward and looked at me expectantly.  I don’t know what he was expecting, so I just looked back at him.  My arms were crossed over my stomach and my weight was shifted so that I was leaning away from him slightly.  This is what my FBI sensitivity training had taught me was “closed body language.”

“So, you and Sullivan are becoming good friends?”

“Not really.  I’ve been a real bitch to him.”

Ewan raised his eyebrows, and then recovered his mildly detached expression.  “Well, have you made any friends here?”

“In one day?  It took me a month to make friends at college.  And that was at a place where I actually wanted to be.”

Ewan sighed.  “Are we still going on about that?  Can’t you find something else to complain about?”

“Like what?  Having Elijah break into my apartment and watch me sleep for two hours?  That kind of put me out.  Having to listen to a foul-mouthed vampire call me rude variations of a lesbian while coming up with a lame excuse for why he was in the mall today and just sending off the worst ‘bad guy’ vibe ever?  Or maybe it’s the clair—”  Shut-up, Olivia, shut up.  “The, uh, chair that nearly ate me while I had to sit around and listen to a neurotic vampire tell me why it’s impossible that the Earth actually be spinning.”

Ewan grinned and it made his eyes sparkle.

“So, you spent some time with Michael, huh?  He’s fun.”

“Yeah,” I said.  “Why won’t you have sex with him on that couch?”

He actually looked startled by the question.  “That’s a little personal, don’t you think?”

I gave him an “oh, come on,” expression.  “Oh, come on,” I converted the expression into words.  “Like you haven’t delved into my personal history and shared it with everyone you know.  I know you have because everybody seems to know who I am and what’s so great about me.”

“First of all,” Ewan said, gliding around the chair toward me, “I haven’t told them anything about you; only who you are relative to us.  Second of all,” he paused about a foot away from me because I had my foot planted in front of my body to keep him at a distance, “Michael’s never asked for nor offered me sex.  So, I couldn’t deny it to him, could I?”

The last ray of light from the sun cut through the window and lanced across his eyes.  They burned gold for a moment and then we were plunged in darkness.  The weight of the dark was pressing down on me and I could feel him getting closer.  It wasn’t in my head, he was practically inside me.

Sullivan flipped on the overhead light and I saw that Ewan was sitting on the edge of the table, farther away from me.  I let out a shuddering breath.  What was he doing to me?

“Why are you here?” I said, barely keeping my voice at a non-shouting volume.  “We set up an appointment for tomorrow.  Can’t you wait?”

“Uh, this is Sullivan’s apartment.  I came here to see Sullivan.  Not you.”

Damn.  Good point.  “Fine.  Just, why don’t we talk now?”

“Because what I want to talk to you about you won’t understand until tomorrow.”

“What?”

“Just trust me on this.”

“Because you’ve been so forthcoming on everything else.”

“Please,” Sullivan interrupted.  He had his fingers to his temples and his eyes were squeezed shut.  “I can’t listen to any more arguing.  Just leave it be or take it outside.”

Ewan and I looked guiltily at the floor.  I moved for the door.  I thought about telling Ewan that I would see him tomorrow, but that seemed kind of silly now.

“Good night, Sullivan.  Thanks for dinner.”

“Sure.”

I walked across the room and opened the door.  I stepped into the hallway and glanced back inside as I shut the door.  Ewan was reaching out a hand to Sullivan, but I wasn’t entirely sure if he was offering comfort or asking for something.  I closed the door, crossed the hall, and leaned my head on my apartment door.  Tomorrow was Monday morning.  I had to go to work.  Like, real work.  I groaned.  I wasn’t even sure how to get there from here.  I raised my head.  I didn’t have a car.  Well, I had been promised everything would be taken care of; maybe there would be a nice sporty little number waiting for me in the parking garage in the morning.  I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door.  I hesitated for just a moment.  I was about to take ownership of this apartment and all the weird crap that went with it.  I shrugged and opened the door.  I stood in the doorway, horrified.  What on earth had happened in here?

Boxes were piled in stacks all the way to ceiling, most of them threatening to take a nose dive to the floor.  One box in particular was at a funny angle, the label read: STUFF THAT SEEMS BREAKABLE.  I made my way carefully over to the box, walking around some furniture I recognized as being from my apartment back in Stafford.  A lot of my clothes weren’t even in boxes; they were just kind of thrown here and there at random, though I did notice my underwear was stacked in a pile on the kitchen counter.  I carefully pulled down the box with the breakables and wondered who Aislinn had hired to move my stuff.  And then I remembered that no one else was allowed in the complex besides residents.  But, surely Aislinn would have supervised the move.  She cared too much about the stuff she bought me to do this.  Though, this was my old stuff, which she didn’t particularly like.  But, surely she wouldn’t be this disrespectful to clothes, even if she didn’t like them?  I opened the box to see what was inside.  It was full of pillows.  I made a face.  Someone had a sense of humor.  I wondered if he would still have it after I got my hands around his scrawny little neck.  Then I saw the ransom note.  Taped to the door was a piece of notebook paper.  I made my way back through the chaos and read the note, which was saying a lot because the handwriting was atrocious.

 _We have taken Fuzzball.  If you ever want to see him again, alive that is, you must come to apartment 102 and be prepared to pay the ransom.  Come in a thong, and come alone.  I like the green one with the watermelons on it.  Signed: the Brotherhood of the Catnapping Thong-Lovers_.

I could feel the urge to kill rising.  I only owned two thongs that had been presents from a very clueless boyfriend.  But that meant that that little pervert had gone through my entire inventory of underwear and not simply piled it on the counter.  Which, I suppose, I should have guessed anyway.  I sighed and left my apartment.  On the way down in the elevator I tried to do some breathing exercises to calm me down so I wouldn’t just punch him as soon as I saw him.  I realized I wasn’t really all that upset. Either the stress from the case had worn me down, or I was just used to Elijah already.

I knocked on the door to Elijah and Michael’s apartment and heard a muffled voice say, “Enter.”  I turned the knob and this time it was unlocked. Inside the room, three people were on the couch playing video games.  Michael wasn’t one of them.  I scanned the room and noticed that neither Michael nor Elijah were present.  I wondered if I had the right apartment for a moment, but I recognized that couch.  That completely synthetic couch.  Where was Michael?  Where was that little bugger, Elijah?  And where was my poor cat?

I looked back at the three people on the couch and saw that they were staring at my waist, or maybe a little lower.  Wondering if I was really wearing a thong I guess.  I cleared my throat and they went back to playing their game. I recognized one of them: it was the grey-eyed Indian I had met the other day.  His name was either Samuel or Daniel, I couldn’t remember.  The other two were small and pretty and wearing black leather pants.  Their dress shirts however, were bright primary colors.  The brunette had a on a yellow shirt and a red shirt was worn by the one that looked like he had some Latino blood in him.

“Let me guess, Gabriel and Ezekiel,” I said with my hands on my hips.  The brunette looked over at me and his eyes watered up.  He burst out crying and ran from the room to one of the back rooms.  I watched him go and then turned back to the other two.

“What?” I asked.

“Ezekiel was killed three years ago,” said Daniel or Samuel.

“Oh.  Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” said the Latino.  “Joel is just overly sensitive.  He’s kind of a pain in the ass.  My name is Lemuel.”

He stuck out a hand and I shook it, some of my irritation shaken lose by making some poor little boy cry.

“So, did you wear the thong?” Lemuel asked.  “Daniel said there was no way in hell you would.”

Ah, yes, the Indian was Daniel.  “No, I didn’t wear it.  Where is my cat?”

“Michael’s room,” said Daniel.  “Though I don’t know if you want to go in there right now.”

I turned and stomped for the door that Elijah hadn’t gone into earlier that day.  There was no way I was letting Fuzzball get exposed to such dirty things.  Then I tried to remember if I had always shut the bedroom door when Michael Farlini had come over.  Then again, we hadn’t always made it to the bedroom.  Fuzzball was already tainted.  But that didn’t mean he needed to be exposed to it even more.  I took a deep breath, steeled my nerves, and swung the door open.  It thudded against the inside wall and I started by how fast it had swung open.  Michael, Elijah, and Fuzzball were startled by it too.  Michael lay on his side on a futon and Elijah sat near his feet.   Dangling from his hand was a cat toy and Fuzzball’s paw was actually frozen in midair as he attempted to bat at it.  They all appeared to be fully clothed.  Well, except for Fuzzball of course.

“I told you she wouldn’t find it amusing,” Michael said softly.

Elijah just smiled at me.  “Did you wear the thong?”

“No.”

“Are you prepared to pay the ransom?”

I advanced slowly on him.  “No.”

Elijah pouted.  “You’re such a spoilsport.  It’s not like we really catnapped him.  We were just watching him until you got home. We didn’t think you’d want him up in that unfamiliar apartment with all those boxes all by himself.”

“Well, thank you for the kind gesture.  But, I can’t play tonight.  I’m way too tired and I have to work tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay.  Well, your bed is set up, but we didn’t put any sheets on it or anything.  Do you want help unpacking or with getting settled in for the night?”

“No, not tonight.  I’m just going to shower and go to bed.  But, maybe I could use your help tomorrow after work?”

Elijah lit up and his smile made me smile.  He was glad I wasn’t really angry with him.  And I wasn’t.  Pervert that he was, he was…well, what exactly was he?  I shook my head and went to the futon.  Fuzzball came up to me and rubbed against my hand.  I picked him up and said goodnight.

Elijah opened his mouth and Michael said, “Don’t say it.”

I looked to see if Michael was touching Elijah, or if he just knew him that well.  I suspected it was a little bit of both.  Elijah closed his mouth.

“Goodnight,” said Michael.

I left the room and walked back into the main sitting area.  Joel had returned to the couch, red-eyed and hugging Lemuel who was attempting to play his game around the emotional vampire.  I said goodnight to them and got a couple muttered words, which I took to be goodnight.  I should know better than to bother boys when they play their video games.  I returned to my messy apartment and Fuzzball made himself right at home, sniffing corners and going through all my things.  Bedroom and bathroom boxes had been placed in the bedroom and it made it easier to get ready for the night.  But it was almost midnight before I went to bed, completely worn out.  Fuzzball jumped up on the bed and settled in beside me.  I remembered a time when I could stay up to three in the morning and still make my nine o’clock class.  Did this mean I was old?  Well, I wasn’t as old as the vampires.  And that made me feel better.


	17. Orchestrator

“What do you mean I can’t come in?”

I stared at the receptionist in the lobby of the Norfolk FBI field office.  A steady stream of employees passed through the metal detectors as the security guards half-heartedly checked their ID badges.

“Well, you can come in, of course, your badge gives you access, but I was told by your SSA that your paperwork has been tied up in that sticky red tape and you can’t be in-processed today anyway.  So, there’s really no point in even going upstairs today.  He also doesn’t have to time to escort you everywhere, even if we give you a temporary badge.  You see, honey, if you were an agent it wouldn’t really matter, but you have to get badged to this facility.”

“I know.  Why couldn’t they call me and tell me that?  I have a work cell phone.”

“Honey, do you think I know why they do anything that they do?”

“No,” I groused.

“Exactly.  So, enjoyed a paid holiday.”

“But I don’t want to waste one of my personal leave days on this!”

“Oh, I was told that this wouldn’t be a day of leave.  You’ll get paid a normal work day, but you just don’t have to work.”

“Really?  Sweet.”

“Yes, I thought you wouldn’t mind so much once you heard that.  So, enjoy your day and we’ll look forward to in-processing you tomorrow.  I know they rushed your move down here and now they’re making you cool your heels.  But this is the United States government.  Hurry up and wait.”

“I thought that was the military’s slogan.”

“I believe it applies to any bureaucracy.”

I sighed and leaned on the chest high counter.  Now what was I supposed to do?  I could always go back to my apartment and unpack.  That was definitely out.  I could go shopping, but I’d had enough of malls lately.  Especially enough of the only mall I knew of in the area.  I wanted to be productive in someway though.  Maybe I could investigate the lead Scott had given me.

“Um, excuse me,” I asked the receptionist, “I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of Princess Publishing, have you?”

“Princess Publishing, no that doesn’t sound too familiar.”

“Well, it should,” said one of the security guards leaning on the counter with me.  “You drive by it everyday on the way to work.  It’s that pink stucco building next to the Starbucks.  Well, next to the Starbucks that’s on Curlew Dr.  Well, the Starbucks that’s on Curlew Dr. on the other side of 13.”

“Oh, yes, I remember that building.  Yes, honey that’s it.  You know where Curlew Dr. is?  Make a right out of here and it’s the first street.  Make a right on Curlew and stay on it across 13, that’s Military Highway, and just on the other side on your right should be a Starbucks, and next to that is Princess Publishing.”

“Thank you very much.  I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The receptionist and the guard said goodbye and I walked back to the parking lot.  Well, I guess I’d be doing work today after all.  I made my way to my little blue Honda.  Sadly, that morning a nice sporty number hadn’t been waiting for me in the parking garage.  Just my dinged up Honda with directions to the FBI field office taped to the steering wheel.  I really didn’t like all these people having access to all my stuff.

I managed to make it up the street and easily found the pink eyesore that was Princess Publishing.  I wondered how I hadn’t seen it.  Then I realized that I hadn’t driven past it.  The apartment complex was back down Military Highway a little ways.  Over a bridge.  I couldn’t believe how many bridges were in this city.  It was ridiculous.  It was like living on an island chain.  Parking was scarce, but I found a spot and made my way toward the anything but foreboding building.  Inside was another receptionist.  She smiled perkily at me.  I almost cringed away from the cheerfulness.

“Hello.  Welcome to Princess Publishing.  How may I help you?”

Hmm.  I didn’t really have a plan.  What was I supposed to say?  I didn’t have a badge to flash, and even if I did, I didn’t have a warrant or anything.  Though I correctly assumed that the Underground didn’t observe the Constitution or issue warrants.  I didn’t even have probable cause, just reasonable suspicion, and that was shaky at best.  And not anything I could tell the receptionist.  I was saved from having to answer her as someone said my name.

“Olivia?  What are you doing here?”

I turned at the voice and was surprised to see the hot guy I’d met at the mall.  He was wearing another business suit only with a blue tie this time.

“Shon!”  What was I doing here?  Damn, I wished I was better at lying.  Quick, change the subject.  “What are you doing here?”

“I work here,” he said with a smile.

I felt my heart given an irregular thump.  Why did he work here?  Was he the one under suspicion?  Did he know about the Underground?  Had my meeting him not been a coincidence?

“Is something wrong?” he asked, laying a gentle hand on my arm.  “You suddenly went pale.”

I recovered and smiled reassuringly at him.  “Oh, I’m fine.  I think I just realized that I skipped my coffee this morning.”

Shon laughed.  He had such a pleasant laugh.  “Now that is a travesty.  Come upstairs and I’ll remedy it right away.  We have one of those Keurig machines.  It’s fantastic.”

“Oh, okay.”  I followed him as he led me to the elevator, grateful he didn’t seem intent on finding out why I was there.  “Are you sure your boss won’t mind?”

Shon smiled at me and it almost made me blush.  “I am the boss.  I’m the vice president of the company.”

“Wow!  That’s quite an accomplishment for someone so young.”

I didn’t know exactly how old he was, but I assumed he was around my age.  Shon rubbed the back of his head and looked embarrassed.  “It’s not all that impressive.  Trust me.”

The elevator dinged and we stepped out onto the top floor.  It was crammed with cubicles, though spacious ones.  The men and women on this floor were probably paid more than the ones below us, and as such they were awarded ten more inches of desk space.  Shon maneuvered me through the maze and to the coffee machine.  I absently pointed to a flavored coffee and Shon prepared it for me.  I glanced around the floor.  Were all these people wereanimals?  Were they all in on it?  If so, did they know exactly who I was?  Nobody seemed to be taking any particular interest in me.  Aside from perhaps wondering who the boss had brought up.  Maybe they didn’t know anything.  They might have all been normal humans for that matter.  Scott had said the owner of Princess Publishing had been around for a long time, so maybe he just owned the company and these people unwittingly worked for him.

“Olivia?”

I turned back to Shon and he handed me a cup.  The coffee smelled good and I took a sip.  Not bad for coming out a machine.  Maybe I should get one of those machines.  It was nice to be able to make only one cup of coffee at a time.  I was following Shon toward his office and still glancing about to see if anybody was eyeing me.  They didn’t appear to be.

Shon had a large corner office.  A very large corner office.  I guess those were some of the perks of being the boss.  On his desk was a stone nameplate that read Vashon Thomas.  Hmm.  Didn’t know about the “va” part.  He closed the door and offered me one of the chairs on this side of the desk.  I sat down, suddenly having a nasty flashback to just post the Ronnie Aldmen incident.  Showing off his intelligence, Shon took the seat next to me rather than his big, impressive chair behind the desk.  He crossed his legs and laid his folded hands on one armrest.  He looked almost as formal as Sullivan did when he was interviewing somebody.

“So, what brings you to Princess Publishing?”

Damn.  “Um, well, it’s a funny story.  Quite literally, actually.  My friend, Aislinn.  You remember her?  She was with me at the mall that day.”

“Ah, yes.  I do remember her and Elijah quite vividly.”

“Heh, heh.  Et-hmm.  Yeah, so well, she’s actually writing a book.  Like, a humor book or something.  And I was just stopping in at the Starbucks next door when I saw your building.  And I don’t know, I guess I was just popping in to see if you guys have a pamphlet or instructions for someone who wants to break into publishing books.”  Lame, Olivia.  “I work near here,” I added hastily in case he was wondering why I was in the area.

“Oh really?  Where?”

“Um, at the FBI.”

Shon’s eyebrows went up.  “Ooo.  Neat.”  He smiled at me.  “Do you carry a gun?”

I shifted and felt the Glock dig into my ribs.  I didn’t really think I needed to lie to him, but what if he was one of the bad guys, and he knew I was here investigating, and he was trying to figure out if I was armed?

“Yes, I do.”

Shon shifted forward and looked more comfortable.  “So, are you an agent or something?”

“Ah, no actually, I’m not.  I’m a forensic pathologist.  I cut up dead bodies.”

I closed my eyes briefly.  Why was I so retarded sometimes?

“Geez, that sounds terribly interesting.  And gross.”

I laughed and was comforted by the fact that he laughed too.  Despite his potential bad guy-ness, I still found myself wanting to make a good impression on him.  In theory, we still had loose plans for a date this coming weekend.

“So, wait, does that mean you just have special training, or I thought that pathologists have to have MD’s.  Well, that’s what they say on the TV shows.”

I smiled.  “Yes, that is one thing they got right.  I do have an MD.”

Shon shifted in his seat.  “Wow.  I can’t see how you’re impressed with my being the vice president of a small company.  You’re a doctor and an FBI…employee.  That’s very impressive.  Just the MD by itself for that matter.”

“Oh, well, you know, that’s just reading books and memorizing facts.  You have to be able to do…stuff.  What exactly is it that businessmen do?”

“Well, nothing so important as your work.  But mainly what I do is give the final okay on the work that all those people out there do.  And I manage the money.”  He grinned.

“I thought that’s what accountants were for.”

“Accountants are for taxes.  I watch over our income and what gets done with it.”

“You know, I’ve always wondered about the owner of a business.  How exactly does he earn money?  Doesn’t it all go back into the company?”

“Ah, that’s what I manage.  I make sure the payroll is covered and all our expenses and appropriate enough money for emergencies.  And whatever is left over gets moved into the owner’s personal account.”

“Is it a lot?  Oh, gosh.  I’m sorry.  That’s so nosy.”

“No, not nosy.  I think anybody would be curious.  The government especially tends to be.”  He raised an eyebrow at me.  “What were the letters of your government affiliation again?”

I smiled.  “There’s an I in it, but no R or S.”

“Thank goodness for that.  Well, we are a smallish company, and we do pay our employees well, so there’s not actually _that_ much of a take home pay.  But, I won’t lie.  It is pretty substantial.  The owner lives in several laps of luxury.”

“Really.  So, he’s got some spare money that he can just throw around on a frivolous whim?”

“Oh, definitely.  He doesn’t invest a penny of it.  He just spends it.”  Shon leaned forward conspiratorially.  I leaned forward too.  “Rumor has it he as a very extensive unicorn figurine collection.”

I sat back and laughed.  “Stop teasing me.”

Shon shrugged.  “I’m telling you what the rumors are.”

A phone on his desk beeped.  He leaned over and pushed a button.  “Yes?”

“Mr. Thomas, Mr. King will be arriving shortly.  Do you still want to hold the meeting in your office?”

“Yes, that will be fine.  Just show him up.”  He sat back.  “I’m sorry, I have a meeting…”

“Oh, I understand.  I’ll just see myself out.”

“Okay.  And if you ask the receptionist downstairs for some publishing info, she’ll give you the packet we have prepared.  For your friend.”

“Oh, yes.  Thank you.”

Shon opened the door for me.

“So,” I said, “this meeting, is with _your_ boss?”

“Yep.  The guy who owns the whole thing.”

“Mr. King.  That’s such an ironic name.  Or, fitting, actually.  I don’t suppose his name is Elvis, is it?”  It was a bad segue, but I had to know.

Shon smiled.  “No, it’s Leonard.  Leonard King.”

I nodded, staring at Shon.  He stared back.  Was he smiling because he was friendly or because he knew he was playing me?  I took in a breath, remembering that breathing was something I just had to do.

“Well, I’ll see you around.”

“Yes.  I’ll call you this weekend.”

“Excellent.”

 

I went back to the FBI field office.  The receptionist was worried I had gotten lost.  I told her I hadn’t, but I had just decided to do some research in the library.  She agreed to escort me down there and two hours later I sat buried in a pile of microfilm boxes.  Old deeds and newspapers going back over two hundred years.  Leonard King was the son of a long line of prosperous men who had lived in Norfolk since his great great grandfather had been released from slavery ten years before the civil war.  There wasn’t anything telling about the records.  Everything was in order and there had been no distant cousins who had come in and taken over the estate.  It had been a direct father to son inheritance for five generations.  Though it seemed odd that a black man had been able to come into ownership of property not five years after the civil war.  His whole family history read like one big, long lucky streak.  It was impossible to figure out if his father or anyone related to him had been in England in the 1950’s and I really didn’t have any other points to cross-reference the King family with.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Scott.  It was only 8:00 a.m. on the west coast, but if he had a normal job, he should be up by now.  It rang several times and was in the middle of giving me his voice mail message when he picked up, sounding groggy.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Scott.  This is Olivia.  I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

I heard him clear his throat.  “Um, no, no I was just…sleeping.  Yeah, but don’t worry about it.  I should have been getting up shortly anyway.  What can I help you with?”

“Well, I kinda did a little investigating into Princess Publishing, and I guess the man you were talking about is Leonard King.”

“How did you know that?” Scott asked, sounding much more alert.  “Princess Publishing is held in his wife’s name.”

“Oh, well, actually the vice president of the company told me the name of the man he worked for.  And there’s no way that was a coincidence.”

“Have you told…anyone else?”

“No.  I was researching him at the FBI library and honestly he appears to be clean.  His records are all in order and while he definitely hates vampires, he doesn’t really strike me as murderous.”  I was being very careful to keep my voice low even though nobody was around.  I didn’t want my new superiors already thinking I was crazy.

“I feel the same way.  Of the three people I mentioned before, honestly, Leonard is the only one that truly fits the profile.  But, I’ve met his father before.  And the only way for the same killer to have been doing all this since the 1950’s would mean that both of them would have to be very long-lived.  And I’ve never heard of two wereanimals in successive generations having extremely extended life spans.”

I scanned through some more newspaper articles.  Most of the recent ones pulled up on the King family involved humanitarian awards and the like.  “So, it’s not genetic or anything?”

“No, it’s actually pretty rare.  Most wereanimals live to be over 90, but we age normally.  A very, very few of us hit 20 or 30 and then appear to not age for several decades.  Then it just hits them and they die around the age of 150 or so.”

“Are you long-lived?”

“I don’t know.  I’m 32.  But everything appears normal so far.”

My hand froze on the scanning button as I came across one of the rare articles that had a picture associated with it.  “So, you’ve met King’s father?”

“Yes.”

“His name is Lionel, correct?”

“Yes, Lionel King.  He was a very nice man.”

“Did he look like Leonard?  I mean, does Leonard look like his father?”

I could almost hear Scott shrugging.  “Well, he was quite old when I met him, so I couldn’t say for sure.  But I wouldn’t say the family resemblance just jumped out at me.”

I stared at the blurry picture from 1942 of a man shaking the hand of Lionel King in front of a new hospital.  “Scott, thanks for you help.  Let me know if you find out anything else.  I’ll talk to you later.”

“Uh, okay.  Goodbye.”

I hung up before the second half of goodbye left his mouth and stared at the picture of Lionel King.  I stared at Leonard King, shaking hands with a man in 1942.

“Shit.”

 

I was grateful the complex was so close to work.  It only took me a few minutes to get there and I didn’t get lost.  Though Bob tried to get me to talk for a few minutes at the front gate.  Sullivan wasn’t answering his phone and the space Ewan’s number should have been stored in my cell was listed as unknown.  The only place I knew to go was back to the complex.  Once in the lobby, I didn’t know if I should run upstairs and check to see if Sullivan was in his apartment or if I should check Ewan’s office.  I was saved the decision by seeing Elijah outside his apartment hanging up a paper jack-o-lantern.  I walked over to him and wondered why he was doing Halloween decorations so early, but that would have to wait.

“Elijah—”

He turned upon hearing his name and jumped at me with a mewling, “Olivia!”  It was like having a giant cat pounce on you.  I caught him and he rubbed against me, almost purring.  Or maybe that was my imagination.

“Elijah,” I said and gripped him by the forearms.  I forced him to look at me.  “Pay attention.  This is very serious.  Do you know if either Sullivan or Ewan are here?”

Elijah seemed to understand the urgency of the situation and shook his head.  “They shouldn’t be here.  They both work.  In human jobs.”

“Do you know their work numbers?”

“No, but Ewan gave everyone an emergency number if we ever thought we were being attacked or something.”

“Can you get it for me?”

“Sure, it’s in my apartment.  Come inside.”

I followed him inside and Michael was lying on the couch.  He opened his eyes and sat partially up when he saw me.

“What’s going on?”

“I just need to talk to…Emanuel,” I said.  “I don’t have his number.”

“Oh,” he said, lying back down on the couch.  “But, why aren’t you at work?”

“Red tape,” I said and moved to help Elijah dig through the overflowing drawers in the kitchen.  “What’s it look like?”

“Unfortunately it’s just on a scrap of paper.  It’s not in one of our rooms, is it, Michael?”

“No.  It’s in the kitchen.  Is it on the refrigerator?”

I moved to look at the various slips of paper hanging from underneath the magnets.  One of the magnets had a forties style pin-up girl with fishnet stockings on.  The caption read, “I don’t exercise because it makes my pantyhose burn.”  I raised an eyebrow.

“What are all these numbers?”

“Friends,” said Elijah.  “And our brothers.  We like to keep in contact.  Ah!  Found it.  Here.”

Elijah handed me a crumpled up piece of paper.  There was a number on it and no other marking.  Just like all their other numbers.  How on earth did they know who belonged to which number?

“This will connect you to Ewan.”

“I thought she wanted to call Emanuel,” said Michael.

“She wanted the emergency number and assumed it would call him.  So, you’re actually calling this Ewan guy.  Be careful with him.  He’s a real dick.”

Elijah winked at me and moved to sit on the couch with Michael.

“Be careful what you say,” said Michael.  “Ewan may not find it funny.  Or Shannon for that matter.”

“I’m not scared of Ewan,” Elijah said snickering.

I started to dial the number on my phone, but watched the two vampires.  Michael sat up and looked at Elijah.  “You know something.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you both do.  I thought you two were acting funny about something.  And now I know what it is.”

“Oh, you do not,” scoffed Elijah.

I was certain Michael now knew since he was touching Elijah as he was thinking about Ewan and Emanuel.

“How do you know?” I asked.

Michael looked at me and I raised my eyebrows at him.  He was giving himself away.  He turned back to Elijah.

“I guess I don’t know anything after all.”

“I told you so.  So, you wanna play a game?”

“Hello?”

I was startled by the voice in my ear.  I hadn’t even heard the phone ringing.

“Uh, hi, Ewan?”

“Yes.  Who is this?”

“It’s Olivia.”

“How did you get this number?”

“Elijah gave it to me.”

“That little—He cannot follow simple instructions.  This is an emergency number.”

“I know, I asked him to get it for me.  Sullivan’s not answering his phone and your number isn’t in my call history.”

“And what is the big emergency?”

“I think I know who the killer is.”

Michael and Elijah stopped squabbling over their game controllers and stared at me.

“Is anyone in the room with you?”

“Yes.”

“Can you go somewhere else?”

“I guess.”

“Would one of you mind if I went to your bedroom?”

Michael and Elijah were still staring at me.  They shook their heads dumbly.  I walked into Michael’s room and shut the door.

“Man,” Ewan said, “they must be really scared if you didn’t get a single comment after that last question.”

I realized what I had just asked the two perverts on the couch.  “Yeah, you’re right.  And I don’t blame them.  I can’t imagine having something like this chasing me.  Something you can’t see coming and never know where it is.  It’s like a disease that can kill instantaneously.”

“And who is the engineer of this disease?”

“Now, bear in mind that I just said I _think_ I know who the killer is.  There’s a chance he’s not.  A good chance even.  I mean, you can’t just go kill him when I tell you his name.”

“I have no such intention.  I’m actually on my way to the complex right now.  So, I can pick you up, grab a couple of big, scary-looking guys, and we can all go.  And besides, just because I hear the name doesn’t mean I’m going to believe he’s guilty.”

“Are you saying that you don’t trust my investigative skills?”

“No.  I’m just saying that there may be signs and clues that point to somebody that it is impossible for it to be.  I mean, you can only think about this case in a way that conforms to your idea of logic.  So, you would naturally add or eliminate people that to you it seems impossible to be.”

“That’s not true.  I’m well aware of the special circumstances and took them into account.”

Ewan sighed.  “Well, are we going to argue this point until I get there, or can you tell me who you think it is?”

“Leonard King.”

Ewan was silent for a long minute.

“Ewan?”

“Leonard King?  As in the wereanimal you met the other day?”

“Yes.”

“I—I just can’t believe a wereanimal would do this.  It’s too suicidal.”

“Well, he’s gotten away it with for a long time.”

“No, I mean, for him to even start.  Once he got going and didn’t get caught, sure I can understand continuing, but no wereanimal in their right mind would even attempt to start.”

“Maybe he’s not in his right mind.  He is murdering people.”

“No, I’ve known Leonard King for many years.  He’s not crazy.”

“Well, if you’ve known him so long it should have sent off warning bells that he’s one of those long-lived wereanimals.”

“How would I know that?”

“Well, duh.  If he still looks the same now as he did decades ago.”

“I didn’t say I’d known him for decades.  Just many years.”

“Oh.  Well, how could you guys not realize that he’s been alive for so long?  I mean, there’s a picture of him from 1942 looking exactly as he does now.”

“We never thought to look into it.  I mean, I met Leonard twelve years ago when he was introduced as one of the leaders of the wereanimals in this area.  I just assumed he was a young man.  Just like all the others.”

“Well, he’s been alive for quite some time.  Definitely since before 1951.  And he also is very, very wealthy and has lived in this area for over two hundred years.  Which, according to Scott, are two things he would need in order to be able to contact and use the local fairies.”

Ewan was quiet again.

“What?  What is it?”

“Nothing.  I’ll be there shortly.  I’ll get Sullivan to call and set up a meeting with him.  And we can go see what he has to say.”

“But, if he has these fairies, we’ll be defenseless against them.”

“No, we’ll be defenseless.  You’ll be fine.”

“But—”

Ewan hung up on me.

“Uh!  You jerk!”

“What’d he do?” a muffled voice asked on the other side of the door.

“Shut up!” another hissed.

I walked to the door and opened it.  Elijah still stood bent down with his ear pressed to where the door would have been.  Michael was hanging over the side of the couch.  I shooed Elijah away from the door and he hopped up to sit on the back of the couch.  The two vampires stared at me.  And then they burst.

“Well?  Who is it?!” Elijah shouted.

“What’s going on?” asked Michael.

“Nothing to worry your pretty little heads over just now.  Ewan and I will take care of it.  You just stay here in the complex and you’ll be safe.”

They didn’t look convinced.  But, Elijah shrugged and hopped off the couch.

“Okay, fine.  I’ll trust you.  So, you want to go back into one of our bedrooms?”

“No.”

“Aw, come on,” he pouted and reached out a hand for me.

I sidestepped him and stubbed my toe on a silver briefcase.  I hopped around on one foot and looked more closely at the object.  It wasn’t really a briefcase, but a case for carrying around equipment.  Such as scientific equipment and looked remarkably similar to the case I used to carry around in the trunk of my car and had forgotten to turn in to the Quantico lab when I moved down here.  I bent down to get a closer look.

“This is mine!”

I reached out a hand to grab Elijah by the ankle, but he hopped onto the couch.  He was starting to resemble a rabbit more and more.

“It was an accident!  We forgot we had it.”

“Well, why was anything moved in here and not straight to my apartment?”

“Because we moved everything and then thought maybe we should check if there was anything in your car that needed to come in.  We didn’t know what it was, so we just left it here rather than hauling it up there if all you wanted was to put it back in your car.”

I frowned.  That explanation kind of made sense.  I guess I couldn’t really get angry with him.

“What is it?” asked Michael.  “We didn’t open it.”

“It’s an electrostatic dust print lifter.”

“Huh?”

“Whaaaaat is that?”

“Well, clearly,” I said, “it’s a machine that lifts prints from dust using electrostatic electricity.”

“Ooohhh.”

“Can I see it?” asked Elijah bounding over Michael and leaning over the back of the couch.

“Sure.  It’s just a box and a rod.”  I opened the case and true enough there was a box and a rod.  There was some other stuff too, but I wasn’t going to explain it to them.

“Show us.  Please!  Show us how it works.”

“You guys—”

“Come on,” said Michael.  “I’ve never even heard of it.”

I blinked.  Even Michael was pestering me.  I waved them off and picked up the box and walked over to a pile of papers in front the large windows in the back of their apartment.  I noticed that these windows were actually sliding doors and opened up onto a nice patio that overlooked the perfectly manicured lawns of the complex.  I wanted to live on the bottom floor.

“Okay.  Come here, Elijah.”

He clapped his hands and flew off the couch.  He jumped so far I actually started to wonder about that flying vampire myth.  Michael leaned over the armrest and watched.  Elijah jumped up and down beside me.

“Calm down, you freak.  How old are you?  Six or sixty?”

Elijah stopped moving his feet, but his body was still bobbing.

“Okay, take off your flip-flop, or I guess leave it on.  Which ever you prefer.”

Elijah kicked his leg to the side and the green and yellow flip-flop went flying.  “If you ask me to take my clothes off, they’re coming off.”

“Okay.  Weirdo.  Now, rub your foot in some dust.  There’s plenty of it around this place, and then step lightly on this sheet of paper.”

Elijah scooted about the floor to gather some dirt and grime.  I wondered how often they cleaned.  If ever.  After longer then I thought was necessary to get his foot dirty, he finally picked it up, hopped on one foot over to the papers on the floor and carefully stepped on the top sheet.  I gave him a nudge so that more weight fell on it and he stepped off shouting about how if I wanted him to step on it harder I shouldn’t have said “lightly.”  I didn’t respond and knelt down to plug the machine into the wall.

“Okay, now what I do is cover the paper with a sheet of Mylar film.”  I placed the black film over where I guessed his foot had been and laid the rod at one end of it.  “Now, this rod is the ground…I think.  Anyway, I turn on the machine, and stick the probe on the other end of the film.”  Once the positive and negative ends were touching the film, it became charged and flattened out on the ground.  Elijah bent down to look over my shoulder.  He stared at the film and then glanced at me.

“I don’t see anything.”

“Well, it’s not done yet.”  I took a small roller and ironed out the film, making sure it was nice and flat.  Then I turned the machine off and put the rod and probe back in the case.  “Okay, touch it for me.”

Elijah stuck out his hand and then jerked it back before making contact.  “No way!  It’s gonna shock me!”

“Why do you think I want you to touch it?”

“Olivia!”

“Oh, come on, you won’t do this for me?”

Elijah grumbled and reached out a hand.  He extended one finger and reached out slowly, slowly.  Then he stabbed his arm out and touched the film.  He jerked his hand back quickly and then hesitated.  He stuck his hand back out and touched it again.  He gave me an unhappy look.

“Did it hurt?” asked Michael.

“No,” Elijah said petulantly.  “It didn’t even shock me.”

“It didn’t?” I asked, voice pitching up to that “I’m innocent” voice, “how about that.”

I carefully peeled back the Mylar film and stood up with the heavy duty flashlight kept in the case.  “I need someplace fairly dark.”

“We can go in the bathroom.  There aren’t any windows in there.”

“Okay.”

I started to follow Elijah and was a little curious as to why he was leading me to Michael’s room and not his own.

“Come on, Michael, come see.”

Michael made a face, but his curiosity won out and he got off the couch.  I was surprised when he stood next to me.  He had been right: he was taller than I thought.  He was almost exactly my height, maybe a half an inch taller, which made him on average about six inches taller than his Brothers.  Excluding Ewan of course.  We trooped into the bathroom and I pulled the door shut to about an inch of the jamb so that there was still some light to see by.  I held out the film to Elijah.

“Okay, hold this by the corners against the wall.”

He did as instructed.  I turned the flashlight on and held it at an angle to the side of the film.  Elijah’s bare footprint popped out at us as plainly as if he had stepped in plaster.  Though this had a little more detail to it.

“Cool!”

I think both of them said it.

“You see, we use this to gather prints that we can’t otherwise see, and then take court quality pictures of them to use as evidence or ways of comparing prints found at crime scenes to those of our suspects.”

“Awesome,” Elijah said.

“What’re these?” Michael asked and pointed to six small dust marks leading across one corner of the film.

I moved the flashlight so that it shown on the marks better.  We all leaned forward to get a better look.

“I don’t know,” I said.  “It’s probably just debris that was on the floor.”

“Spread out evenly like that?” asked Michael.

“And when was the last time dust shimmered?” asked Elijah.  “It doesn’t look like what was on my foot.”

“I don’t know.  What do you guys have in the apartment?”

Elijah was capable of getting closest to the marks and almost had his nose against the film.  I could see his eyes trying to focus, straining due to the close proximity.  “You know what?  I hate to say it, and it may just be me seeing things like in those ink blot test things, but these look like footprints.”

“Footprints?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Like, tiny, shimmering footprints?” Michael asked.  “Like those that, oh, I don’t know, a fairy might make?”

“Yep.”

We all stood in the bathroom staring at the tiny marks.  And then Elijah and Michael screamed.  It startled me so much that I dropped the flashlight and the light went out.  They screamed again.

“Okay, okay!  Calm down,” I shouted.  My own breathing was just a little bit off.  “We don’t know for sure that’s what those are.  But, if we act on the safe side and assume they are, then we don’t know how old they are.  Though, dust does tend to move around a lot in lived in places.  How long has it been since you last went out those doors?”

“This morning,” Elijah said.  His voice was trembling.

I wondered why we were all still standing in the dark.  Maybe we felt safer.  Like we were hiding.

“Okay, well that doesn’t necessarily mean that you disturbed them.  So, they could be old.  Are you guys, I mean, do you have any friends that are fairies or something?”

“No,” said Michael.  “We never would have invited them in.”

“They’re here in the apartment,” Elijah whispered.

“Now, we don’t know that,” I said firmly.  “I mean, if they were in your apartment, wouldn’t they have killed you by now?  Michael, you’ve been here the whole time, right?”

“I haven’t left since we moved in.”

“Well, then, if it was them, they probably would have gone after you.  I mean, you’re an easy target lying on that couch like a slug.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, what if they just came in and we scared them off because we were walking around?  Or because you showed up?  Maybe they thought they couldn’t expose themselves with you in the room.”

“But they went after Brooks in a crowded mall,” I pointed out.

“Maybe not,” said Michael.  “Brooks and Emanuel do not get along.  I think he refused to move in here when it was offered, and then he got scared and wanted to.  But, he didn’t want to come crawling and begging for help, so maybe he made up the story in order to have a reason to be forced into moving in.”

“I don’t know,” said Elijah.  “I was there.  He was pretty scared.”

“But that doesn’t matter now,” I said.  “Right now we should just leave the bathroom and maybe go take a look around.  Ewan is on his way here and he’ll be able to help us.”

“Okay, if you think it’s safe,” agreed Elijah.

“How are they killing us anyway?” asked the more practical of the two.

Hmm.  Maybe it really wasn’t safe to leave the bathroom.  The fairies phased through solid objects and ate their victims’ brains out.  How did you defend against something like that?

“Um, well, it’s kind of difficult to explain.”  Not semantically, but how was I supposed to tell them that they were sitting ducks no matter where they were if the fairies were in fact in the apartment?  But, if they weren’t attacking us, maybe they weren’t in the apartment after all.  So, if they weren’t here, then where were they?

“Do fairies glow in the dark?”

“Some do.  But some are camouflaged by the dark and appear better in light.”

“Of course.  You guys are good runners, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I don’t know all the details, but it appears the fairies are having their success in attacking when in enclosed spaces.  So, maybe if we go out onto the complex grounds, you’ll be able to get away from them easier.  If it comes to that.  But, again, we don’t know for sure that those marks mean anything.”

I opened the door and was temporarily blinded for a moment.  I think the vampires were fine.  I led them back into Michael’s room and glanced around.  They were doing the same.  I’m not even sure what I was looking for.

“Let’s go outside.  I’ll call Scott and find out what kind of visibility…powers, or whatever, these guys have.”

I got out my cell phone and started dialing.  I was walking for the patio doors and Elijah was walking for the main door.  Michael stood his ground in the middle of the room.

“What are you two doing?”

“I’m going out the front door so I can get other people to come out with us,” said Elijah.

“And I’m not going anywhere,” said Michael.

“Oh, yes, you are,” Elijah said with more authority than I thought him capable of.  “You are not staying in here to get killed by some stupid fairy.”

“You heard Olivia.  We don’t even know if there are fairies in here.  I mean, how would they know where to find us?  How could they have gotten in?  And if they did get in, they would have already killed us.  So, they probably aren’t in here.  And I’m not going out there just because you saw some random dust marks on a piece of black paper.”

“Mylar film,” I said softly.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw the screen of my phone switch off since I never finished dialing Scott’s number.

Elijah was advancing on Michael.  “Look, you’ve been sitting up and walking around a lot lately.  So, clearly you’re not that bothered by flying off into outer space anymore.”

Elijah stopped in front of Michael and glared up at him.

“That was just a cover.  I needed an excuse to stay inside.”

“Why?”

“I’m agoraphobic.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Like I would have a choice with Geri around.”

“Okay, so then at least come into the lobby.  It’s more open there so you can run, and closer to the exit.”

“The patio doors are right there.”

“Michael, I am not leaving you here.”

“You don’t have a choice.  I’m used to everything in here.  Everything feels like you.  I can deal with that.  But I’m not going out there and you can’t make me.  I’m sick of this world.  I would rather die than take one step outside this apartment.”

I sucked in a breath, not sure if I should interfere.  Elijah looked absolutely livid.  I wondered if his emotions were more readily available to him because he hadn’t spent as much time with this Geri person.

“You would rather die than go into the hallway with me?”

“It has nothing to do with _you_ personally.  It’s the hallway.”

“No, you’re saying you don’t trust me.  _Me_ , Michael.  I’ll take care of you.  Screw Emanuel, fuck Geri.  I will take care of you.  Don’t you trust me?”

Michael put a hand on Elijah’s head and ruffled his grey hair.  “Yes, I trust you with my life.  But, I’m not going outside.”

“Yes, you are,” Elijah ground out between clenched teeth.

I didn’t even see his arm move.  I was vaguely aware of his fist connecting with Michael’s jaw and the taller vampire spinning violently and slamming into a wall.  The drywall gave way beneath the impact and Michael’s incredibly hard skeleton.  There was a nice Michael-shaped imprint of him in the wall now.  He fell to his knees and Elijah grabbed him under his arms and started to drag him to the door.  Michael didn’t look like he could remember his name, much less stop Elijah’s progress across the floor.  I quickly caught up to them and opened the door for Elijah.  I felt sorry for Michael and understood his hesitation to leave, but surely death couldn’t be preferable.  If so, wouldn’t he have killed himself a long time ago?  And besides, if he was unconscious, maybe he wouldn’t be able to perceive anything.  But, then again, he wouldn’t be able to run either.

Out in the hallway, Michael was starting to gain control of his faculties and stood up, using Elijah as a makeshift crutch.  A door down the hall opened.  I recognized Samuel, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty who had inspired Bram Stoker.  He walked toward us.

“What was that noise I heard?  And what is Michael doing off the couch?  Is something wrong?”

Elijah looked at me.  Was I supposed to explain?  “Um…”

I never got the chance to even try.  Something flashed in front of my vision.  It seemed to disappear behind Samuel’s head.  Or maybe I hadn’t really seen it in the first place.  I was still trying to decide it if had just been a trick of the light when it appeared again on the other side of Samuel’s head and he fell to the floor.  I stood stunned for a moment and then bent to check on him.  I was halfway there when I saw it shake itself.  Blood and bits of tissue slid off its body and wings.  It was standing on the molding that lined the walls.  In a few a minutes I bet its wings would be dry again, and it would be able to fly.  Should I smash it?

Elijah had fallen to his knees at Samuel’s side.  He was shaking the body and calling out his name.  His voice was getting shriller.  Samuel didn’t make any sort of response.  I didn’t expect him to.  There wasn’t much anyone could do without a hypothalamus.  Elijah looked up and saw the fairy flicking a red substance off the bottom of its wing, completely unconcerned that we saw it.  Elijah leapt forward with an outstretched hand.  He pulled up suddenly as two more came out of the wall.  They hovered near the one cleaning itself off.  I grabbed the tail of Elijah’s shirt and pulled him back.  There was a soft hum in the air.  Like the wings of a hummingbird, or a swarm of bees off in the distance.  I backed up slowly and felt Michael at my back.

“Should we run?” Elijah whispered.

“Yes,” came a small voice from in front of us.

Who were we to disagree?  We turned tail and ran.  Their apartment was right beside the lobby and we entered the open space and headed for the front doors.

“Wait,” Elijah said, pulling up short.  Michael didn’t seem to mind waiting to go outside even though there were murderers chasing us.

“Wait for what?” I asked glancing around.  I didn’t see any lights flying around.  My hand was on my gun, but I wasn’t a good enough shot to hit one those things moving.  I’m not sure I was a good enough shot to hit one stationary.  They were tiny little buggers.  I hadn’t gotten a good look at them.  The wings had looked like black and white striped butterfly wings.  And the bodies looked more or less humanoid, but they were too tiny for me to see anything distinguishing.

“We have to warn everybody,” Elijah said.  “I saw them come through the walls.  They can go through walls and get anybody.  They can go through the ceilings.”

I thought I saw something move to my left.  I spun and had my gun in my hands.  I didn’t see anything.  I turned to look at Elijah and Michael.  They both appeared normal, not like something was is their heads.  Than again, Samuel hadn’t really changed expressions.

“You two go outside.  I’ll pull the fire alarm and that will get everyone to leave the building.”

“No, it won’t,” said Elijah.  “When was the last time you left your apartment when the fire alarm went off?”

“I’ll leave if it doesn’t turn off after a couple minutes.  We’ll have to rely on these people not being stupid.  We don’t have time for this.  We don’t know where they are and you’re right, they can phase through walls.  They can phase through your skulls, get it?”

Elijah put his hands on his head like that would stop them.  “We can’t just leave everyone here.”

“And what do you propose to do?  Go door to door telling everyone to leave?  All you’ll do is let them know which apartments are empty and which ones have people in them!  No go!  I’ll set off the alarm and come out with you.  I don’t want either of you to get hurt.  So, go.  Go wait for Ewan.  And keep moving.  It might make it difficult for them to go after you.”

Neither moved.  “Fucking go!” I screamed.

Michael started, but stepped forward and grabbed Elijah’s arm.  He dragged the smaller vampire toward the front doors and I looked around, searching for a fire alarm.  There was a panel on the wall that looked like it required a key to access.  There had to be a pull switch somewhere.  I looked down the hallways to either side and didn’t see anything that looked like a red box sticking off the wall.  There was no way these buildings had been built without them, right?  I saw something fluttering on the molding above Samuel’s body.  They fairy was drying off.  And another appeared to be hovering beside it.  I looked around the hall and squinted my eyes.  I couldn’t see the third one.

“Shit.”

I ran down the opposite hall.  I didn’t want to pass the fairies or Samuel’s body.  Just past Ewan’s office I saw the fire alarm.  I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the tab.  An alarm sounded, but it wasn’t very urgent sounding.  It was loud enough to be heard inside of the apartments, but for once I wished for the overly loud and screeching alarms they had installed in the FBI buildings.  I was almost back to the lobby when I thought about Sullivan.  His apartment was soundproofed.  But, there was probably an alarm inside the apartment.  Or would they have thought to install that?  And if Sullivan was at work, were the children alone?  Probably not.  And they weren’t targets anyway, but the thought of them or Sullivan upstairs without being able to hear the alarm made my heart miss a beat.  I paused in front of the elevators.  I couldn’t see any of the fairies now.  I felt a cold fear spread through my body.

“Pull yourself together,” I demanded of myself and punched the elevator button.  Nothing happened.  I pushed it again and noticed that both the up and down buttons had turned red.  The fire alarm must have triggered the elevators to shut down.  A good idea to force people to use the stairs during a fire, but what if someone was _in_ the elevator when the alarm went off?  I looked around for the staircase.  I could make it up ten flights.  And if I passed anybody on the way I could inform them of the type of danger they were in so that maybe they could protect themselves.  But it had already been a couple minutes since I pulled the alarm.  Where was everybody?  Where was anybody?  I briefly wondered if they were all already dead and the reason Michael and Elijah hadn’t been killed was because they were the last ones.  I shook my head and pushed open the doors to the stairwell.  I started to climb up when I noticed sudden movement below, heading downstairs.

“Wait!  Come back up!  There’s an emergency, you have to leave!”

I heard feet hit a few more stairs and then a door opening.  I paused, looking down.  Who would turn and run away like that?  Why would they go downstairs when I said there was an emergency?  Was there an exit down there?  Even if there was, it didn’t make sense.  I gripped my gun with both hands and started slowly down the stairs.  The flight twisted two times before it dead ended at a door that read: basement.  It was shut firmly, but there was no where else to go.  I reached out a hand and turned the knob; it wasn’t locked.  I moved to the side and slid down the wall so I was crouching down low.  I pulled the door open a fraction and peeked inside.  The basement was unfinished and very dark.  Metal poles rose around the room and boxes stacked to the ceiling obstructed any clear views of the space.  The only lights were emergency spotlights shining at even intervals of fifty feet.  Great.

I didn’t see anyone hiding by the door or the boxes piled near the entrance.  But if they could see the door, then they had to know I was there.  But would fairies carry a gun?  Could fairies carry a gun?  But what I had glimpsed on the stairs hadn’t been a fairy.  It had been a person.  Either a scared tenant or possibly whoever was controlling the fairies.  Quite possibly, it was Leonard King.

I ducked into the room and got behind a pile of boxes with a wall at my back.  Nothing had fired at me.  Though, would Leonard King have a gun?  Probably not if he was expecting the fairies to do all the work.  But, I should proceed like he was armed.  I now wished that I had received more training than just how to use the gun.  Stealthy slinking around just wasn’t something the FBI taught its science techs.  I wondered if I should apply to be a special agent after all this.  I moved to my left slowly and watched the floor for any shifts in the shadows.  The only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat.  Hopefully I was the only one who could hear it.  Or was that footsteps?  Soft footsteps, winding through the boxes just on the other side of me.  I couldn’t really tell over the persistent warning of the fire alarm.  I moved back the way I came, trying to circle around them.  I came around the edge of the boxes and peeked carefully around the side.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I stifled a scream as I shoved the barrel of my gun into a set of ribs.  Elijah winced and let go of me.  I exhaled sharply and lowered my weapon.

“Damn it, Elijah,” I hissed.  “I thought I told you to leave.”

“I couldn’t leave you alone.”

“Sullivan and Ewan already explained to me that the fairies won’t kill me.  I’m perfectly safe to be in here.  You, on the other hand, are not.  Now go.  And what about poor Michael?  You just left him?”

“He’s fine.  But just because the killer directs them not to kill you doesn’t mean they won’t if you irritate them enough.  I mean, even if they get punished by causing trouble in the human world, you’ll still be just as dead.”

“A valid point.  But, you they have no qualms about killing, so please leave.”

“No.  They’ll go after me before you.”

I grabbed Elijah by the shoulders.  “Listen to me.  This is my job.  It’s what I do.”  Sort of.  “You’re someone I’m trying to protect and I can’t do that if I have to worry about you being in danger.  I realize that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but please.  Go outside where you can run if you have to.  And seriously, where did you leave Michael?  He can’t be alone.  Go take care of him like you promised.”

“But—”

“Elijah.  Please.”

In the dark even his bright eyes were dim and shadowed.  I could see them working back and forth as they looked me and he tried to decide what to do.  Finally he nodded and turned to leave.  I watched him reluctantly make his way to the door.  Then I saw who had been on the stairs.

Leonard King grabbed Elijah by the neck with one arm.  I started, but wasn’t overly concerned; Elijah was more than strong enough to shake him off.  But Elijah didn’t move, his arms remained limp at his sides and his eyes had grown wide.  Four dark marks slowly started to appear on the front of his baggy, white shirt.  The marks were damp and slowly spreading over his shirt like ripples in a disturbed pond.  Logically I knew it had to be blood, but what kind of weapon did Leonard King have that could slide right through a vampire like that?

King’s eyes had some sort of light reflecting off them, or maybe that light was internal.  Were his eyes glowing?  I wasn’t even aware that I had had my gun trained on him until I felt my arms start to protest the locked arm stance.  Elijah took a gasping breath.  I couldn’t tell if it was because of the arm across his throat or if his lungs had been pierced.  But by what?  What weapon did he have?

“Let him go, Mr. King,” I said.  My voice was shaking.  I sounded anything but menacing.

“Not a chance,” his voice growled low out of his throat.  “I don’t think you really want to protect these monsters any more than the rest of the world would, but it’s hard to let a friend a die.  Honestly, I’m disappointed in you, Dr. Milligan.  You seemed so disgusted with them just a few days ago.  And now you lay down a pathetic, clichéd dialogue trying to save this wretch’s life.”  With that he gave a twist of the weapon and Elijah let out a soft keening noise.  His forehead was glistening with sweat.  He was in pain.  “I won’t allow it.  And I won’t allow you to stop my work.  There’s nothing you can do to stop me anyway.  None of these people technically exist.  No one will miss them.  And you can’t kill me.  I’m protected by human laws.  By _our_ laws.”

“I can turn you over to Ewan.  He’s not restrained by such laws.”

“Could you do that?  Could you turn over a fellow human knowing what they would do to me?”

“Just because you’re human doesn’t mean you aren’t evil.”

“Oh come on!”  His voice dropped even lower with his anger, and then came back up in an aggravated, gravelly growling.  “You saw how they treat us, what they think of us.  They’re vampires.  Bloodsuckers.  They are evil incarnate.  I am saving my people from demonic creatures!  Not just my people.  All humans.  We are all their victims.  Just because it isn’t as obvious anymore, don’t think they haven’t killed humans in the modern age.  Don’t think this one hasn’t killed his share.”  He jerked the weapon and Elijah choked on his scream.  I was very concerned he had actually choked on the blood filling his trachea.

The muscles in my arms were screaming.  But I couldn’t put the gun down.  Not that it was doing me any good.  Elijah’s body was shielding everything but Leonard’s head, and if I shot him in the head, he would die.  I couldn’t bring myself to shoot him.  I was involved in a war I didn’t belong in.  And Leonard was a person who had been subjugated to a pretty harsh domination by the vampires.  But he was a murderer.  Or was he a hero?  Saving his fellow wereanimals from being treated like slaves and entrées.  But that’s what terrorists were.  Even if they were fighting for their beliefs and their homeland and their families, they were still murderers.  There were other ways to go about doing this.  Stalking people for fifty years was not one of them.  Being judge, jury, and executioner was against the very laws King was trying to hide behind.

My head was clear enough to try to think through this, and I realized it was in part because the fire alarm had turned off.  I moved my eyes from Leonard’s face to Elijah.  His shirt was getting saturated.  Ewan said it could take hours for a vampire to bleed to death, but I couldn’t risk Elijah having that kind of time.  I thought about shooting King through the leg by shooting Elijah.  The vampire should be able to heal himself.  I moved my gun slightly down, so that King wouldn’t notice.

“Don’t do it.”

King and I both started.  Neither of us had noticed Ewan come in the door.  He stood at the entrance, not moving as King turned slightly to put Elijah between himself and the other vampire.  I swallowed in a little fear.  If I had thought King’s eyes had been glowing, then Ewan’s were on fire.  They burned a bright green out of his shadowed face.  The door behind him had shut and he was in a column of darkness, his silhouette just visible, and his eyes frighteningly radiant.

“Don’t shoot Elijah,” Ewan said.  “With his injuries, he won’t be able to heal it.  He’ll be crippled.”

I swallowed again and eased my finger a little off the trigger.  I looked over at King and Elijah again and now saw the weapon buried in the vampire’s back.  It wasn’t a weapon, not in the true sense of the word.  It was King’s hand: transformed into something ungodly with foot long knives replacing his fingernails.  Four of them went straight through Elijah’s body and were poking slightly through his shirt in the front.  The thumb was digging into his lower back, probably tearing at the unprotected portion of his spinal cord.

“Don’t worry about crippling him,” King said with a sneer.  “He’ll be dead soon.  They all will.”

“We know who you are now,” Ewan said softly, calmly.  “There’s no way you’re getting out of this alive.”

“I beg to differ you spawn of hell.  This whole complex will be dead within minutes.  Then they’ll come after you.”

“Well, if we’re all dead anyway, that boy’s life has no value.  And don’t think I won’t take you with me.”

Ewan made the slightest movement and King tightened his hold on Elijah, claws and arm digging into more delicate flesh.  Ewan froze.  King laughed.  Elijah was on the verge of passing out.  I had already depressed the trigger halfway and eased up.  I took in shallow breaths through my teeth.  I wasn’t getting enough air.  My chest hurt; it felt too tight.

“So, he has no value?  I think he does.  You still think you have a chance, and so you can’t sacrifice him.  I commend you on that much: you do have some emotions.  But it won’t be enough to save that withered, corrupted soul of yours.  Move out of the way.”

Ewan didn’t move.

King’s faced contorted into something viciously ugly.  “Move out of the way or I will pull his insides out one piece at a time.”

“If you kill him, you’ll have nothing to keep me from killing you.”

“That’s why I’ll do it a piece at a time.  How many pieces will come out before he dies?  I’m willing to bet a lot.  How many do you think?” he asked Elijah.  Elijah’s eyelids fluttered.  “Move.”

Ewan stepped slowly away from the door and slid around toward me.  King moved awkwardly toward the door, turning his body to keep Elijah in front of him.

“A hair moves and his throat comes out,” King threatened, his hand closing around Elijah’s neck, turning the skin white.

“Olivia, shoot him.”

I wanted to.  But I didn’t at the same time.  I’d never killed anyone before and a kill shot was the only shot I had.  And I wasn’t very good with guns.  What if I hit Elijah?

“She won’t do it,” King said.  “She won’t kill me to save this thing.  She knows the difference between good and evil.  Between humans and monsters.”

“Olivia, he’s going to kill him once they reach the top of the landing.  Are you going to let Elijah die?”

“Shut-up,” I said between clenched teeth.  “Why are you doing this?”

“It’s too late for that conversation, Olivia!” Ewan shouted at me.

“They’re evil, Dr. Milligan!  What is your problem?  Why aren’t you holding the gun at that thing beside you?  Whose side are you on?”

I was scared of Ewan.  I was scared of all the vampires.  I didn’t know exactly what they were or how they lived or whether or not they were murderers themselves.  Were they all like Ewan?  Did they think of humans like cattle?  I pushed those thoughts aside.  I had to focus on now.  I had to focus on the lives at stake.  I didn’t care what he may have done in the past or even if he did questionable things now, there was no doubt in my mind that Elijah was _not_ a monster.  He was not evil.  And he didn’t deserve to die.  Especially not like this.

King had the door open and was dragging Elijah through it.  This was it.  I had to make my choice.  I had to decide if I killed King to save Elijah or if I waited for another alternative.  They were almost completely though the doorway.  In my peripheral vision I saw Ewan make a sudden moment, and King responded by flexing the muscles in his arm.  I don’t know if he was simply going to tighten his grip on Elijah’s throat or carry out his threat and rip it apart.  I don’t know what his intentions were because when I saw his arm flex, I fired my weapon.  The bullet hit King square between the eyes, and he stood frozen for a moment before falling down dead.

Ewan suddenly appeared next to Elijah and caught the barely conscious vampire to prevent him from falling back on King’s claws.  He maneuvered Elijah to the floor and rolled him to his side.  He tore off the back of his shirt to look at his wounds.  I didn’t look.  I couldn’t.  The shot had been perfect; Leonard hadn’t stood a chance.

“Olivia, go upstairs and get help.  And tell the fairies their payroll is dead while you’re at it.”

“You did that on purpose,” I whispered.

“What?” he asked, tearing off his own shirt and using it to plug up the holes in Elijah’s body.

“You moved on purpose so that Leonard would react.  So that I would shoot him.”

“Olivia, now is not the time for this.  Go upstairs and ask for Galen.  Tell him Elijah needs blood.”

“How could you—”

“Olivia!”  Ewan turned his eyes on me and I knew what it was to truly fear someone.  “He needs help now!  He’s just a baby.  He can’t heal himself.  We have to help him.  Please, Olivia.  Help me.  Help _him_.”

I heard the distress in Ewan’s voice.  He never showed much emotion for anyone.  But it didn’t comfort me that I had proof now that he was capable of it.  I nodded and holstered my gun.  I ran for the stairs and stepped carefully around Ewan and Elijah.  I looked down at Elijah, but his pupils were fixed and not responding to the light shining from the stairwell.  That was not good.  I made a mad dash for the top of the stairs.  I didn’t want Elijah to die.

_Don’t die.  Don’t die.  Don’t die._

I kept repeating that to myself and knew Ewan would take care of him until help arrived.  I knew he would.  I was scared of Ewan and didn’t trust him, but I knew I could count on him to protect Elijah.  I would trust him with that at least.

I started shouting before I reached the top step.  Shouting for someone, anyone to at least be near enough to help me.  I burst through the lobby door and pulled back with a gasp.  I was just startled, but after the workout my heart had had downstairs it took its toll.  I fell back against the wall and started to hyperventilate.  I couldn’t draw a decent breath.  Everyone in the lobby just stared at me.  It was like the time Ewan and I had gotten off the elevator on our way to see the wereanimals: it looked as if the entire complex was in the lobby, looking at me.  I forced myself to stop breathing for a moment.  I held my breath and let it out slowly.  I drew another in, held it, and let it out.  Now that I could breathe, I could shout.

“Galen, I need Galen.  Elijah is hurt in the basement.”  I was about to inform them that Ewan had sent me, but did these people know him as Emanuel?  Did the name Emanuel hold as much clout?

“I am Galen.”

A tall black man stepped forward.  I wouldn’t even hazard to guess as to the country of origin of his accent, but it was somewhere in Africa.

“Elijah has been…stabbed.  He’s in the basement.  He needs blood.”

“Right.  Alexis, Ray!”  Two men broke from the crowd.  “Alexis, go get a gurney and an IV line from the clinic and bring it to the basement.  Ray, go to my apartment and get the stored blood in the refrigerator.”  One man ran down the hall and the other went past me up the stairs.  Galen paused in front of me.  “He is in the basement?”

I swallowed with difficulty, my mouth was too dry.  “Yes, at the door.  You can’t miss them.  I’ll—”  I started to turn toward the door, but Galen put a hand on my shoulder.

“You can wait here.”  He smiled kindly.  “You’ll just be in the way.”  He disappeared down the stairs.

“But, I’m a doctor,” I said to myself.

I turned back to the room.  Everyone was still standing and staring at me.  Towards the front door, through the legs of the crowd, I could see a couple people lying down.  Three people, no, at least four.  To my left, Samuel still lay motionless on the carpet.  I looked back at the crowd.

“Are we being held hostage?” I asked softly.

One of the Brothers I’d met the night before disengaged from the group.  “No, we’re not.  When we all gathered in the lobby, the fairies were here.  We tried to catch them, but they could move through solid objects.  Every time we tried to catch one, it moved through our hands.  So, we got Langer to take care of them.”

“Langer?”

I remembered he was the tall, willowy guy who had been a fake EMT and police officer.

“Yes, he can touch them without them being able to move through him.”  He lowered his voice to a whisper.  “He’s not one of us, you know.”

“But, how do you know if he got all of them?  They could be hiding anywhere.”

“Those kinds of fairies move in groups of four.  Langer said one was already dead from a previous encounter with a vampire, and he ate three.”

“He _ate_ them?!”

My voice was a lot louder than I had intended.  The vampire nodded and pointed a finger.  The crowd parted and I saw him sitting in a chair, cradling the blonde’s body.  Boyd.  That was his name.  I took a couple steps forward and saw Boyd raise a hand to his head.  I let go of the breath I had been holding.  There was a small, bloody wound on his temple.  Perhaps a fairy had started to go in and been stopped.  I moved forward to see if I could help.

“Is he okay?” I asked Langer.

Langer just looked at me; it was Boyd who answered.  “Yeah, I’ve just got a killer headache.”

Blood was flowing freely from his fingers and dripping onto the stone tiles of the entryway.  I turned to the crowd.

“Does anybody have—”

Several hands held out handkerchiefs to me.  I reached forward and took a white one.  It would stain the most, but for some reason white just gave off the impression of being clean.  I gently moved Boyd’s hand and pressed the cloth to the wound, making sure to put as much pressure as I could without causing more pain.

“Do you need to go to—”  Go where?  “Go somewhere to get help?”

Boyd grimaced.  I think he meant to smile.  “No, I’ll be able to heal this.  I think.  I just want to lie down.”

“I think it would be best to keep your head elevated.”

“That’s what Langer said.”

Langer spoke?  I looked at him and he gave a slight nod of his head with a serious expression on his face.  I think he was happy that his prescription had been corroborated.  I glanced around, made uneasy by all the eyes that remained on me.  I was also uneasy about the fairies.  What if there were two groups of fairies?  I looked up at the vaulted ceiling and wasn’t sure where to direct my next sentence.

“Well, just in case Langer didn’t get all of them, they should know their payroll is dead.”

A collective eyebrow was raised at me.  The front door of the lobby opened and a scrawny man dressed in chic-goth came in the door.  He looked around the room.

“What’s going on?  Is it a fire drill or something?”

I felt someone lean in close to me.  “That’s the human who lives here.  You should probably think of something to tell him.”


	18. Secret Council

I realized now why Elijah had never taken me to his room.  It was a mess.  It was beyond college freshman mess; it was violating several federal laws, I was sure of it.  But I wasn’t really aware of it at the moment.  I sat on the edge of his bed, holding his hand.  How Florence Nightingale of me.  But, I wanted to be there when he woke up.  I didn’t want him to worry that something had happened to me after he had passed out.  Galen had brought him upstairs on a gurney, connected to an IV.  It looked like he was receiving a transfusion.  He had been still and clammy and a terrible shade of yellow.  The white sheets on the gurney had already turned red.  I couldn’t believe how much blood was coming out of his tiny body.

There was a clinic of sorts on the first floor.  That was where they had taken him.  That was where he had stayed for two days while the rest of the complex searched all the rooms in the all the apartments, looking for bodies.  In all, twenty-three vampires had died that day.  I had been sort of right: the fairies had started at the top and worked their way down on one side of the building.  We had caught them before they started up the other side.  A lot of people had been gone for the day.  But a lot had still been at home.  In a place they thought was safe.  Ewan had been there giving directions and orders when needed, but he pretty much stayed out of the way.  I didn’t know if he felt guilty for not being able to protect them, or if he just didn’t care all that much.

Elijah had been moved upstairs to his room after his wounds had healed.  I was amazed by how fast it had happened.  I was informed that once fresh blood was put into replace what he had lost, he had been able to heal himself.  The young were remarkably resilient.  But, all the blood had been used for whatever process it was that they used to heal themselves, and he had remained unconscious, almost in a coma.  But, now that he was better, he would probably be waking up within the day.  I’d been sitting with him for two hours.  He hadn’t even moved.  Then he let out a low groan.  I squeezed his hand and his brow wrinkled in groggy pain.

“Elijah?”

He squirmed a little bit, stopped and took in a sharp breath.  “Ow.”

“Are you okay?  Is something wrong?  Do you need help?”

He shook his head slightly.  “No.  I’m just sore.  I feel like I was beaten to within an inch of my life with a golf club.”

I bit my lip and squeezed his hand again.  The poor thing.

“Or that I just had a night of really wild, rough sex.”

I sat back and let go of his hand.  I think he was feeling okay.  He opened one eye and looked at me.  He smiled and I smiled back.  He opened both eyes and took my hand again.

“Have you been here the whole time?”

“No.  You were downstairs in the clinic for a couple days.  But, I’ve been here since they put you back in your room.”

“Thanks.”

“Sure.”  I reached out a hand and brushed some hair back from his forehead.  He felt a little feverish, but I was told that was part of the process.

“What happened?”

“Well, Leonard King got a pretty big piece of you.”

“I know that.  I was there.  What happened to the fairies?  Did they get stopped?”

“Yes.  Langer got them.”

“He ate them?”

“Yes!  What is with that?  What is he?”

Elijah closed his eyes and lay still for a few moments.  Then he opened his eyes, letting out a painful breath.  I remembered Galen telling Ewan that one of the claws had pierced a lung and another had pierced the secondary pumping organ.  His primary heart was okay, which was probably why he was still alive and would be able to recover completely.  They had been worried about his spinal cord, but he responded well to stimuli in all his limbs.  He probably wasn’t paralyzed anywhere.

“Is everyone okay is what I meant.  Did Ewan get there in time?  Was Langer able to catch them before they could hurt anyone?”

I licked my dry lips.  My mouth was getting cottony.  I didn’t want to tell him the list of who died.  What if they were people he really cared about?  A couple names had sounded like they could have been his Brothers.

“Um, the fairies were in the complex for a while before we encountered them.  They got some people.”

“How many?”

“Twenty-three.”

“Good God.  Who?”

“I can’t remember all the names.  And I didn’t really recognize the names.  So, why don’t you just wait until you’re feeling better?”

“Is Michael okay?”

Well, that was a difficult question to answer.  “The fairies didn’t get him.”

“But they got Samuel.”

“Yes,” I said softly.  “They got Samuel.”

“But no one else that you know?  I mean, know personally?”

“Well, Sullivan and Aislinn are okay.  I know that Daniel and Israel and several of your other Brothers are okay, but I don’t know who all they are.”

Elijah nodded.  “I guess Emanuel will tell me later.”  He turned his head away from me and a tear slid down his cheek.  He took in a shuddering breath, which caused him to tense up in pain.

“What is it?  What can I do for you?”

“This is it,” he said tearfully, his voice cracking.  “I’m going to die.”

“No, you’re not.  You’re going to be fine.  Galen said so.  And Ewan wouldn’t let you die.  He promised me he’d help you.”

Elijah still wouldn’t look at me.  “But this is how we end up in bed together,” he whispered.  “Part one fulfilled.  Now they only thing left is part two.  I die.”

I reached out a hand and gently turned Elijah’s face so that he had to look at me.  “Do you trust me?”

Elijah sniffed.  “Yes.”

“Do you accept that I’m way smarter than you’ll ever be?”

He gave me an attempt at making one of his faces.  “Yes.”

“So, then you know that I study things very thoroughly.  I know a lot about a lot of things.  And I know a lot about fate and destiny.  And I don’t believe in either of them.  The future is not yet decided.  The future doesn’t even exist.  It’s an abstract concept in our minds.  Nothing is predetermined or foreordained.  The future is not yet decided.”

Elijah stared at me with his pale, rosy eyes.  He nodded slowly, and then managed a smile.  “I’ll remember that.”

“Good boy.”

I petted his fluffy hair and his eyes slid shut.  His breathing evened out and he was asleep again.  I gently extracted my hand from his and quietly left the room.  I was easing the door into the jamb when I heard a thump.  I looked to my left and saw Ewan leaning against Michael’s door, his hands balled into fists.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” he said softly.  “And who cares if something is wrong with him?  When did I start to care about these two little shits?”

Hmm.  Was that a good thing or a bad thing?  “What’s wrong with Michael?”

Ewan looked at me sidelong.  “Didn’t I just say I don’t know?”

“Well, what are his symptoms?”

“The same as they’ve been for the last three days.  Uncontrollable shaking.  His eyes are squeezed shut tightly.  He won’t speak, he won’t eat.  Nothing happened to him.  The fairies didn’t get to him.  And he was catatonic before he even heard about the deaths.  I found him outside the complex when I drove up and told him to stay outside while I handled the rest.  After everything went down and things settled down a bit, I realized he wasn’t around.  So, I sent someone to go looking for him.  He was down by the lake, staring blankly at the sun.  I mean, was his fear so great that he snapped?”

I tapped my fingers on Elijah’s doorknob.  Should I tell Ewan what might really be the problem?  Quite possibly Michael had snapped, but not from fear of flying off into outer space.  I had no idea what he had encountered outside.  What had he perceived?

“Can I take a look at him?”

Ewan stepped away from the door and waved his arms in a defeated gesture.  “Go ahead.  You can’t possibly make him any worse.”

I thought about knocking, but decided not to bother.  I opened the door and saw Michael on his futon curled into the fetal position, shaking like a leaf.  His hands were clutching his head and he was making small, incoherent noises.

“Jesus, how long has it been this bad?  No one let me see him.”  I knew he hadn’t been well when he had been found, but I didn’t know it had gotten to this state.

“Since yesterday evening.  When they found him by the lake, he was babbling and almost tetanic.  I thought he’d be better once we got him indoors again.  But he’s getting worse.  It’s like he slipping inside his own mind.”

I pulled back his eyelids and his pupils retracted from the light.  That was a good sign.  Maybe he had just sensed too much and couldn’t reconcile what he was experiencing.  And maybe he’d gotten so messed up that even stuff he was normally used to was bothering him.

“Take his clothes off.”

“Excuse me?”

“Take his clothes off Ewan, and bring him in the main room.”

Ewan didn’t move, so I started to unbutton his shirt myself.  The idea was to get Ewan to do it since Michael said he couldn’t perceive anything from him, but hopefully my touching him wasn’t making him worse.  I heard Ewan clear his throat and then he stepped forward and nudged me aside.  He picked up where I left off and removed the rest of his clothing.

“Boxers too.”

Ewan glanced at me, but did what he was told.  Then he scooped up the shivering vampire and carried him into the main room.  He looked at me like I was crazy, but waited for my next order.

“Put him on the couch.”

Ewan laid him gently down and then stepped back.  He picked up a blanket that was laying on the dilapidated armchair, but I put my hand on his arm, stilling his movements.  We both looked down on Michael.

“Now what?” he asked.

“We wait.”

Though I wasn’t sure if this would take a long time or if it would work at all.  And then Michael’s body suddenly relaxed.  His eyes snapped open and he let out a harsh breath.  Ewan and I waited, a little nervously.  Then he took in another breath and went completely limp.  He closed his eyes and moved an arm to put a hand on his forehead.  He swallowed and it looked like the motion was painful.  He managed to croak out the word, “Water.”  Both of us moved to get him a glass of water.  “And drugs.”

I searched through a couple cabinets until I found a glass and Ewan found a bottle of Ibuprofen.  I filled the glass with tap water and Ewan crushed about ten pills by pinching them with his fingers.  He put the powder in the water and took the glass from me.  I thought that water was going to be pretty disgusting, but Michael swallowed it all in three gulps.  He grimaced and threw the glass away.  Fortunately it was plastic and didn’t break.  I wondered if it was the glass that had hurt him or if the water had something in it that he had perceived.  Ewan and I stood over him and watched him like we had been hypnotized.  Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at us.

“Hey guys.”

“Hey, Michael,” I said, “how are you feeling?”

“Okay.  Better.  Much better.”

“And why did Olivia know how to help you?” asked Ewan.  “And how exactly did she help you?”

I looked to Michael.  It was his call.

“Um, well, it’s kind of difficult to explain.”

“Try,” Ewan said crossing his arms.

“I’m clairvoyant.”

He paused and looked at Ewan.  I took a sideways glance at him myself.

“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Michael and I looked at each other, and then back at Ewan.

“Um, no I guess it wasn’t,” Michael said, confusion in his voice.

“It certainly does explain a lot, but not everything.  But, I’ll be back later to check on Elijah and you can fill me in then.  For now, just do what you need to do to get better.  Do you need anything?”

“No, not right now.”

“Okay, then.  Olivia and I have some business to take care of.  We’ll be back later.”

Michael nodded and Ewan guided me toward the door.  For once I didn’t step away from his touch.  There was something familiar and comforting about him now.  And I was also too scared of him to potentially make him angry when he was apparently in such a bad mood.  We walked to the elevator in silence.  I looked straight ahead and not down at the floor where Samuel had died.  The entire complex had a feeling of loss and reserve.  The last two days everybody had been walking on eggshells.  Nobody said much of anything and it almost seemed like they were avoiding saying anything to Ewan.  Were they trying to hold back their accusations?  Or were they trying to prevent themselves from asking, “What now?”  The doors to the elevator had just closed when the silence was shattered by my cell phone.  I dug it out of my pocket and flipped it open to stop the noise.  I forgot about the button on the side, and now I couldn’t just hang up on the person.  I put the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Olivia?”

“Yes?”

“This is Shon Thomas.”

“Oh, Shon.  Hi.”  I rubbed my head.  I had almost forgotten the outside world existed.

“Hi.”  His voice sounded flat.  “I wanted to call you.  About this weekend.”

“Oh, right.  Um, actually—”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to go through with our date.  I received some bad news on Monday.  My father was involved in a mugging.”

“Oh, no.  I’m sorry.  Is he okay?”

“No.  I’m afraid not.  He’s a very proud man.  And he probably didn’t cooperate.  So, he was shot.”

“Oh.”  I didn’t want to ask if he was okay.  I waited for Shon to finish.

“He died.”

“Oh, Shon, I’m so sorry.”

“Yes, well, the funeral is this weekend, and family is starting to come into town.  I wanted to call and talk to you before I got too busy and forgot.”

“You didn’t have to call at all!  I mean, I appreciate it, but you’re going through so much right now.”

“Well, it’s kind of helping to break down my days into a series of tasks.  Calling you was number five on today’s list.”

The elevator dinged and Ewan held the doors open for me as I stepped off.  He waited with me in the hallway as I talked to Shon.

“Shon, I am so sorry for your loss.  I know there’s nothing I can do, but is there anything I can do?”

“Yeah.  Just, don’t forget about me.”  He heaved a sigh.  “I’ll get back on my feet, and I would like to be able to take you out as promised.”

I nodded even though I was on the phone.  “Yeah, sure, of course.  Take your time.  You have my number.”

“Thank you, Olivia.  I—”  He paused for a long moment.  “Um.  Bye.”

“Goodbye, Shon.”

I hung up and chewed on my lip.  Poor Shon.

“Who was that?”

We started walking down the hall.  “Someone I met recently.”

“What was wrong?”

“His father died.  Killed during a mugging.”

“Oh.”

I noticed we weren’t on my floor.

“So, it’s a guy you met?”

“Yeah.  In the mall.”

“Shon.”

“Yeah, Shon.”

“Shon what?”

I glanced over at Ewan.  He was looking straight ahead.  This couldn’t be jealousy.  It was just being nosy.  But I didn’t have the will or the strength to fight with him today.  “Shon Thomas.”

Ewan pulled up suddenly and grabbed my arm.  It felt like a blood pressure test gone horribly wrong.

“Ow, Ewan,” I barely gasped out the words.

He relaxed his grip and I felt blood suddenly begin to flow again.

“Sorry,” he said.  “I didn’t mean to.”

“Well, what’s wrong?”  I looked up into his green eyes.  No matter how frightening they had been the other day, they were beautiful now.  A soft, angelic Sprite-can green.

“You said Shon Thomas.  As in, Vashon Thomas…King?”

I stared at Ewan.  There was no way he was implying what I thought he was implying.  “His name is Vashon Thomas, but that’s his last name.  Thomas.”

Ewan let go of me.  “No, that’s his business last name.  Thomas is his middle name.  King is his last name.”

I shook my head.  “No.”

“He’s tall, handsome, and not as dark as Leonard King, right?  Do you know where he works?”

I swallowed.  “Princess Publishing,” I whispered.

Ewan looked down at the ground and then back at me.  “How do you know him?”

“I bumped into him at the mall.  By coincidence.”

“Coincidence.  The day Brooks was attacked?”

 _Oh, God_.  “Yes, but Leonard was also there that day.  I don’t think he knows anything.  I mean, why would he call to tell me that his father was dead if he thought—”

I stopped mid-sentence.  I had killed his father.  There hadn’t been a mugging.  He’d been shot in the head.  By me.  I wondered when the police would be coming to knock on my door.  The bullet had been fired from my weapon.

“Don’t worry,” Ewan said.  “They can’t trace it back to you.  We took care of it.”

“Oh God.”  I leaned against the wall.  He put a hand on my shoulder and I shook it off.  “That’s not what I care about.”  Well, not entirely.  “I shot his father.  I killed his father.”

“In defense of someone else’s life.  No court would convict you.  Are you going to convict yourself because it was in defense of a vampire and no human life is worth the sacrifice?”

“No.  I wanted to save Elijah.  But what am I going to do?  I killed his father and I will always carry that around with me.  How can I face him knowing that?  He has no idea that his father was murdering people.”

“Does he?  Does he really not know?”

I looked up into Ewan’s eyes.  “I don’t know.”

A door down the hall opened and Sullivan leaned out.  “What are you guys doing?  Come on.”

Ewan grasped me very gently by the arm; I guess to make up for nearly breaking it earlier and escorted me into Shannon’s apartment.  Around the pine glass top coffee table five people sat on the couch and love seat.  Ewan led me to the matching armchair and then squeezed on the end of the couch next to Shannon.  His red hair was out of place with the others on the couch.  There was Shannon’s bright gold, Sullivan’s platinum white, and the third man I didn’t recognize had straw yellow.  He had very strong features that almost overwhelmed his face, but they all managed to work together to make something eccentrically handsome.  He had those pale blue eyes that bordered on clear.  On the loveseat were two brunettes: one male and one female.  They were probably closer to India in origin than the true Middle East, but who knows if they had been alive since before India actually existed?  They looked to be in their twenties, like everyone else in the room, but they felt older.  They also looked remarkably similar and I hoped that wasn’t the Caucasian in me not seeing the difference.

“Olivia,” said Ewan, “you remember Shannon and you know Sullivan.  That,” he said, indicating the Indian male, “is Kishan.  And she is Minda.”

“Hi,” I said softly.  They nodded to me.

“And that,” Ewan continued, removing Shannon’s hand from his thigh, “is Henry.”

I looked at the straw blonde on the end of the couch.  “Henry,” I repeated.  I was willing to believe there were two of them, but neither Ewan nor Sullivan would meet my eyes.  I looked at Henry and he smiled sheepishly at me.

“Then who the hell did I cut up?” I asked.

“Dell,” Henry said.  “I found him in the hotel room and convinced Ewan and Sullivan to pretend it had been me that had been killed.  That way Shannon might give us permission to tap you if he thought the situation had gotten serious enough.”

I glanced over at Shannon.  He sat staring blankly at nothing.  He looked like a marble statue, too perfect and beautiful to be real.  Then the statue turned its head slightly and looked at me.

“Don’t worry,” he said.  “They know I’m in the room.  But, whatever treachery they performed is in the past.  What good will it do for me to be angry with them now?”

I didn’t know if I was expected to answer, so I let the question go as rhetorical.  “And Aislinn?”

Henry sat back and looked ashamed.  “We had to make people believe I was dead.  We needed them to get scared.  To take the threat seriously.  Everyone who had been killed had been outside the complex.  We thought we could protect them if we could get them all here.  Now we know what a mistake that was.”

“Not a mistake,” said Kishan.  “There are other variables involved that we could not foresee.”

“So, how did Aislinn take the news?”

Henry looked to Sullivan.  For help maybe.  Sullivan didn’t offer any support.

“She doesn’t know yet.  And she won’t for quite some time.  This isn’t over.”

“I know you may have been thinking of moving out and on with your life,” said Sullivan, “but we can’t let you go just yet.”

My reply was cut off by Minda.  “We don’t want to make it sound like you are prisoner.  That was poor wording, Sullivan.  We just want to impress upon you that in the last several days we have realized that Leonard King wasn’t working on his own.”

“What, are all the wereanimals in on it?”

“No, we don’t think so,” said Kishan.  “It’s something much more sinister than that.”

“How did he manage to stay alive for over two hundred years?” asked Minda.  “Well past even the longest record for a werreanimal.”

“How did he manage to track down all the vampires and know exactly how many of us there were in the world?” asked Henry.

“How did he manage to hide or cover up his scent at the crime scenes?” asked Sullivan.

“And how did he find and get into the complex?” asked Ewan.

I took the hint.  “He had help?”

“Yes,” said Shannon, his voice unlike his usual tone.  It was dark and heavy and I thought that maybe this is what his real voice sounded like.  “He had help from those who should not have interfered.”

Everyone looked at Shannon, but he didn’t look back at any of them.  And he didn’t explain further.

“Well, if Shannon knows who it is, he can’t exactly tell us,” said Sullivan.  “So, we’re kind of flying blind.  Looking for someone with enough power to do all the things he did for Leonard King.”

“And it’s also obvious that King was a pawn,” said Henry.  “Whoever it is will probably try to attack us again.  Maybe more aggressively now that we have foiled his plot and exposed his existence.”

“What we need from you is your resources in the human world,” said Minda.

“And your protection,” said Kishan.

“My protection?”

“I’ll explain it to you later,” said Ewan.  I seriously doubted that.  “And now we also need you to keep tabs on Shon Thomas.  His meeting you may or may not be a coincidence, but he is Leonard King’s son and he could be a threat.”

“No way.  I’m not going to spy on him.”

“Don’t spy on him, just keep tabs on him.  Don’t you listen?”

I kicked his ankle with my foot.  “Yes, I do, and it’s the same thing.”

“Will you stay and help us?” asked Sullivan.

I shook my head.  “I don’t know what I can do.  I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Henry gave a half laugh.  “Neither do we.”

“Besides, you’ll be safer here,” said Ewan.  “And even if you move, you know Elijah will follow you.”

“Oh, dear.”  I took in a breath and let it out slowly as I looked at the small assembly gathered.  Apparently this was the shadow government of the vampire society.  Though it was odd that in a matriarchy, it was comprised of mostly males.  “I have a life.  And a job.  I can’t allow myself to be all-consumed by this.”

“We’re not asking for much,” said Henry.  “Just a follow up on King.  See who he was in contact with a lot.  Or if someone or something happened in his life, say, around 1951.”

“And keep tabs on Shon Thomas,” said Ewan.

I made a noise of protest, but didn’t say anything.  They looked at me, not with expectation, but with questions.  They really weren’t telling me I had to do this.  They were asking for help.  Then I looked at Ewan.  Sprite can eyes looked annoyed with me.

“I thought I told you that there was no going back.  You’re in our world now and you have to stay here.  No memory erasing, no do-overs.  So, you just need to be prepared to work with us on this.”

The others looked at him with anger and made small threatening gestures with their hands at him.  He ignored them and continued to stare at me.  I glared at his plain face with his stupid orange hair and his gorgeous, unearthly eyes.

“Fine.  I’ll help.  But I won’t do anything illegal.  And I’ll do what I have time for.” I stood up to leave.

“You’ll do what we tell you to do,” Ewan responded and stood up as well.

“Oh, as if.  You can’t make me use my connections at the FBI.”  I started for the door.  “What are you going to do?  Hold a gun to my head?”

“Maybe,” he said following me.  “But I probably won’t need a gun.  I’ll just get Elijah to remind you that he almost died for you.”

“Oh, that was his own damn fault.  I don’t owe him anything.”

I opened the door and Ewan followed me out into the hallway.  I slammed the door shut and glowered at the tall vampire.

“Speaking of which, what is really going on with Michael?”

I blinked at the subject change.  “What do you mean?”

“Well, you knew how to fix him.  So, clearly you know what his problem is.  And there’s no way I’m going to buy clairvoyant.  I don’t believe in that crap.”

“Let me get this straight.  The vampire…doesn’t believe in clairvoyants.”

“No, I don’t.  I told you that when we first met.  I mean for one thing, if he was clairvoyant, wouldn’t he have known that I was Ewan?  I know for a fact he didn’t know.”

“Well, he said that he can’t feel anything from Shannon.  Because he’s special.  And that Shannon extended that to you.  Because he doesn’t want anyone to know anything about you.”

Ewan crossed his arms over his chest.  “How could Shannon do that?”

“And you’re asking me because I would know because…?”

“Okay, so say it’s true.  Why would putting him naked on a couch help him?”

“Not just any couch.  _That_ couch.  You see, every inch of his skin can perceive stuff.  So, he feels his clothes, the ground he walks on, and the furniture he sits on.  However, that couch is completely synthetic.  Even the frame.  So, he gets nothing from it.  So, when he’s naked on that couch, he doesn’t perceive anything.  I just gave him the chance to clear his head.  I didn’t know if it would work.  I’m glad it did.”

“Uh-huh.  I’m still not sure I buy it.”

“Well.  I can’t help that.  You’ll just have to take his word on it.  He can’t prove it to you because he can’t perceive anything from you.  Which is why he wants to have sex with you on that couch.”

I smiled and turned to walk towards the elevators.  He followed me.

“You know, I’m not so sure it’s such a good idea for you to have that much interaction with my Brothers.”


	19. Epilogue

I waited for my badge to finish laminating with more than a little nervousness.  I had missed both Tuesday and Wednesday of work with no better an explanation than I had had a family emergency.  Not the best way to start off at a new assignment.  Well, to be fair, they hadn’t been ready for me on Monday.  Which reminded me, I never did find out what Ewan had wanted to talk to me about.

The security officer handed me my badge and I was on my merry way to the fourth floor.  I was to basically become a tool that the violent crimes division could pull out to perform autopsies and look at weird and/or dead things.  That was fine with me.  I had gotten lucky when I first joined, being assigned to a specific case and working solely on that for eight months.  It might be nice to do something different everyday.  I wandered up and down a few halls, looking for the right number for my SSA’s office.  Now I kinda wished I had taken up the guard on his offer to escort me.  I passed by a familiar office.  Danica Springs looked up from her work and saw me.  Not only did she not smile, she glowered at me.  Geez.  I smiled at her and kept going.  Finally I found Supervisory Special Agent Weems’ office and knocked lightly on the door.  I was also glad that this was the man Agent Redding had said I should look up when I got here.

“Come in.”

I entered the office a little timidly and saw a man in his fifties standing on his desk, attempting to remove some twenty odd pencils that were stuck in the ceiling.

“Oh.”

He looked startled.  He hopped down off his desk and stretched out a hand to me.  He was extremely tall, probably six and a half feet, and built like a football player.  His brown hair formed a semi-circle around his head and left the top shining in the fluorescent lights.  He had a trim mustache under his nose and a huge smile.  I was afraid to shake his hand.  It might eat mine.  I stuck my hand out and sure enough he devoured my hand and shook my arm almost out of socket.

“Hello, hello.  You must be Dr. Olivia Milligan.  I’ve heard a lot about you from Tim.  I’m pleased to have you aboard.  I’m sorry I was up on top of the desk like that, I thought you were Evan.  But, he probably would have just barged in, so I should have known better.”

He finally let go of my hand.

“So, how are things?  I’m sorry about Monday, but I’m sorry about your emergency.  Nothing too serious I hope?”

I managed to shake my head.

“Yes, that’s a real shame.  Evan was the same way.  Had to duck out of here on an emergency.  Well, listen to me yammering on.  You’re probably wondering who this Evan guy is.”  Actually, I was.  For some reason the name made me uneasy.  “Well, he’s one of my best agents.  One of the tip-top and that’s saying a lot because all of my agents are just the greatest.  Anyway, I thought I could stick you with him for a while.  He can show you the ropes and get you acquainted with the case he’s working on.  It would really help him to have a permanent pathologist to help him with the bits of tissue left here and there.  This crazy fuck doesn’t like leaving bodies behind, just parts.  Oh, pardon my language ma’am.  I do that from time to time.  Ah, here he is.  Evan get in here and meet your co-worker.  Evan, this is Dr. Olivia Milligan.  Olivia, (I can call you Olivia, right?) this is Evan Longwood.  He’s going to be your new best friend.”

I heard the rustle of a suit as someone leaned against the doorjamb.  I turned slowly, afraid to look and have my fears confirmed.  Once I was facing the door, I raised my gaze up.  I looked Evan Longwood in his pretty, green eyes.  Ewan smiled at me.

Jerk.


End file.
